Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation
Author: Committee on Climate Change and U.S. Transportation
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2008-07-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0309113067

While every mode of transportation in the U.S. will be affected as the climate changes, potentially the greatest impact on transportation systems will be flooding of roads, railways, transit systems, and airport runways in coastal areas because of rising sea levels and surges brought on by more intense storms, says a new report from the National Research Council. Though the impacts of climate change will vary by region, it is certain they will be widespread and costly in human and economic terms, and will require significant changes in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of transportation systems. The U.S. transportation system was designed and built for local weather and climate conditions, predicated on historical temperature and precipitation data. The report finds that climate predictions used by transportation planners and engineers may no longer be reliable, however, in the face of new weather and climate extremes. Infrastructure pushed beyond the range for which it was designed can become stressed and fail, as seen with loss of the U.S. 90 Bridge in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation
Author: Division on Earth and Life Studies
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2008-07-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309185408

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS) have released the pre-publication version of TRB Special Report 290, The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation, which explores the consequences of climate change for U.S. transportation infrastructure and operations. The report provides an overview of the scientific consensus on the current and future climate changes of particular relevance to U.S. transportation, including the limits of present scientific understanding as to their precise timing, magnitude, and geographic location; identifies potential impacts on U.S. transportation and adaptation options; and offers recommendations for both research and actions that can be taken to prepare for climate change. The book also summarizes previous work on strategies for reducing transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide--the primary greenhouse gas--that contribute to climate change. Five commissioned papers used by the committee to help develop the report, a summary of the report, and a National Academies press release associated with the report are available online. DELS, like TRB, is a division of the National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council.

Integrating Climate Change Actions into Local Development

Integrating Climate Change Actions into Local Development
Author: Livia Bizikova
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 113
Release: 2015-02-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136562818

To date, climate change adaptation and mitigation have been treated separately both in research and in the climate negotiations. However, a growing body of literature is now being developed that points to actual and potential synergies and trade-offs between responses to climate change and sustainability. This literature has evolved in a spontaneous way with diverse approaches and no common methodology to help practitioners explicitly plan for these synergies. This special issue of the Climate Policy journal addresses this gap between scientific knowledge and practitioners' needs by focussing on linkages between climate change and sustainable development at the level of conceptual framework and methods. In particular, the papers address in an integrated way local development options involving both adaptation and mitigation in order to promote resilience to climate change in human and natural systems. The special issue provides policy and methodological guidelines for linking local deveopment pathways with responses to climate change, based on collaboration between local practitioners, the public and scientists.

Guidelines for Climate Proofing Investment in the Transport Sector

Guidelines for Climate Proofing Investment in the Transport Sector
Author: Asian Development Bank
Publisher: Asian Development Bank
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2011-10-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9290923881

This publication aims to present a step-by-step methodological approach to assist project teams to incorporate climate change adaptation measures into transport sector investment projects. While the focus of the publication is on the project level, an improved understanding of climate change impacts should also be used in the design of infrastructure planning and development policies and strategies to ensure appropriate resource allocation. Though the transport sector includes roads, waterways, rails, and airborne transport, this publication focuses solely on road infrastructure.

Climate Change and the Future of Seattle

Climate Change and the Future of Seattle
Author: Yonn Dierwechter
Publisher: Anthem Press
Total Pages: 158
Release: 2021-03-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1785279475

Seattle is one of the most politically progressive and economically dynamic cities in the contemporary United States. This book explores Seattle’s current climate policy agenda and future climate challenges within the context of its historical, bio-regional, and metropolitan settings. While practitioners and academics have lauded Seattle’s urban sustainability and climate action efforts for many years, the analysis here focuses especially on mounting political concerns with social equity, income polarization, and racial justice in a “high-tech” city-region already experiencing the deleterious effects of global climate change. Drawing on a framework first suggested by the Urban Climate Change Research Network, the discussion considers major research themes like mitigation and adaptation policies; Seattle’s regional, national and international participation in climate action networks; disaster risk reduction and risk assessment; and the impacts of climate change and climate policy formation on the city’s most disadvantaged populations. Climate Change and the Future of Seattle will, therefore, be of wider interest to scholars and students at all levels in urban planning, human geography, political science, urban studies, public administration, and sustainability studies.

Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States

Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States
Author: U.S. Global Change Research Program
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2009-08-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0521144078

Summarizes the science of climate change and impacts on the United States, for the public and policymakers.

Growing Cooler

Growing Cooler
Author: Reid H. Ewing
Publisher: Urban Land Institute
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2008
Genre: Architecture
ISBN:

Based on a comprehensive study review by leading urban planning researchers, this investigative document demonstrates how urban development is both a key contributor to climate change and an essential factor in combating it -- by reducing vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.

Seeking Environmental Justice

Seeking Environmental Justice
Author: Sarah Wilks
Publisher: Rodopi
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2008
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9042023783

Based on presentations made at the conference entitled Environmental Justice and Global Citizenship held in July 2006 at Oxford, UK, 14 papers consider environmental concerns against their social contexts. Contributors address theories in environmental management as they pertain to society and to orientations in "perverse" ecologies, the framework of sustainability, including voluntary agreements and incentives, class and conflict in environmental governance, including the uses of effective conflict, information management including the public debate on genetic modification and the differences between experts and laymen, environmental activism, education, including environmental education in a course on ethics and international development, and the effects of free trade, corporate capitalism, and empowerment of professionals, on sustainability and international environmental law.

Climate Change and Public Health

Climate Change and Public Health
Author: Barry S. Levy
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2015
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0190202459

Climate change is causing, and will increasingly cause, a wide range of adverse health effects, including heat-related disorders, infectious diseases, respiratory and allergic disorders, malnutrition, mental health problems, and violence. The scientific bases for the associations between climate change and health problems are evolving as are the strategies for adapting to climate change and mitigating the greenhouse gases, which are its primary cause. With contributions from 78 leading experts in climate change and in public health, this book contains a concise and comprehensive book that represents a core curriculum on climate change and public health, including key strategies for adaptation and mitigation. Written primarily for students and mid-career professionals in public health and environmental sciences, the book clearly describes concepts and their application to the health impacts of climate change. Chapters are supplemented with case studies, graphs, tables and photographs. The book's organization in 15 chapters makes it an ideal textbook for graduate and undergraduate courses in public health, environmental sciences, public policy, and other fields.