Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0
Title:
Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation
Abstract:
The primary focus of this report is on the consequences of climate change for the infrastructure and operations of U.S. transportation. The report provides transportation professionals with an overview of the scientific consensus on those current and future climate changes of particular relevance to U.S. transportation, including the limitations 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 report also summarizes previous work on strategies for reducing transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)?the primary Green House Gas?that contribute to climate change, a relatively well-researched are. Climate change will have significant impacts on transportation, affecting the way U.S. transportation professionals plan, design, construct, operate, and maintain infrastructure. Decisions taken today, particularly those related to the redesign and retrofitting of existing or the location and design of new transportation infrastructure, will affect how well the system adapts to climate change far into the future. Focusing on the problem now should help avoid costly future investments and disruptions to operations. The primary objective of this report is to provide guidance for transportation decision makers on how best to proceed.
Source(s):
Transportation Research Board, Special Report 290
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr290.pdf
Date: 2008
Author:
National Academy of Sciences
Keywords:
Climate/Season
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