Transport, infrastructure and building
The costs of damage of permafrost thawing in the Arctic will be about $200 billion by mid-century
The thawing of the permafrost in the Arctic is causing damage to the infrastructure and buildings of the Arctic states. Russia is expected to have the highest burden of costs.
Loss of sea ice in the Arctic: Sad testimony of climate change, good news for the economy
Ship navigation routes are opening across the Arctic. Summer sea ice extent has been declining for half a century. Opportunities for the economy, maybe not so much for local communities.
Read more »Is Europe’s infrastructure resilient enough for future rainstorms?
Climate change impact on extreme precipitation in Europe calls into question the resilience of the existing infrastructure under more frequent and intense rainstorms in the future.
Read more »River flood risk of Europe’s road network highest in Germany, France and Italy
The current expected annual direct damage from large river floods to road infrastructure in Europe is about € 230 million per year. Risk hotspots are parts of Germany, France, Italy, and Scandinavia.
Read more »Climate change already affects airplane take-offs, study for Greek airports shows
Higher air temperature means lower air pressure and a longer distance to take off. At Greek airports this distance has increased over the last decades by a few metres per year.
Read more »Global warming will increase damage of river flooding to European railways
River flood risk to European railways, €581 million per year in recent decades, could increase substantially: by up to 310% under a 3 °C warming scenario, according to recent estimates.
Read more »Permafrost changes are damaging winter sport infrastructure in the French Alps
The number of damaged infrastructures seems to be small still: 12 out of 947 infrastructures since the 1990s. Numbers have doubled, though, between 2010 and 2018 compared with the period 2000-2010.
Read more »Strong impact of warming permafrost on Russia’s buildings and infrastructure
By mid-century, little over 100 billion USD of buildings, structures and infrastructure in Russia’s permafrost regions will be negatively affected by permafrost changes, a recent assessment shows.
Read more »What are the climate change impacts European Road Authorities have to adapt to?
All over Europe, climate change will increase extreme weather impacts on the roads. This increase will accelerate towards the end of this century. As a result, maintenance needs to be adapted.
Read more »Future heat waves, droughts and floods in 571 European cities
More frequent and hotter heat waves in cities in southern and central Europe, more droughts in the south and more river flooding in the cities of north-western Europe, a recent assessment shows.
Read more »Annual damage to Europe’s critical infrastructure may increase 10-fold this century
Infrastructure that ensures Europeans’ health, wealth and security will be affected by climate change. Annual damage may increase 10-fold this century, especially due to droughts and heat waves.
Read more »More often, flights will be bumpy due to turbulence increase under climate change
Clear-air turbulence accounts for 24% of weather-related accidents. The volume of this turbulence may double in 50 years over North America, the North Pacific, and Europe under climate change.
Read more »Ground settlement due to melting permafrost will affect a large part of the Northern Hemisphere
Under 2°C global warming the permafrost extent of the Northern Hemisphere will decrease by about 25%. Ground will settle owing to permafrost thaw, 4-15 cm on average, but up to several metres locally.
Read more »How to protect office-workers from future heat stress?
In an urban office building without active cooling, the number of lost working hours may quadruple between now and 2100. Effective adaptation measures may reduce this up to 90%.
Read more »Europe’s infrastructure more often damaged by heavy precipitation
Heavy precipitation events are likely to become more frequent and intense, and will affect wider areas. Damage to Europe’s infrastructure will occur more often.
Read more »Extreme weather impacts on critical infrastructure
A conference on the impact of extreme weather on critical infrastructure was organized at Deltares (the Netherlands) on March 23 2017. Final results were presented of the European INTACT project.
Read more »It pays off to adapt road and rail transport to climate change. Austria as an example
Weather-induced costs to road and rail transport will increase. The indirect costs to the economy are larger than these direct costs, however. Because of this, it pays off to adapt.
Read more »Trucks, could they cease to be an environmental concern?
Pollutant emissions spew from all corners of the planet and transport within the commercial and industrial sector especially bears no small degree of guilt.
Read more »Arctic sea ice decline reduces sailing time from Europe to Asia by almost half
One of the benefits of climate change is the use of Arctic sea for trans-Arctic shipping routes. Less ice in summer creates a shortcut between Pacific and Atlantic ports.
Read more »How to anticipate climate change in large infrastructure projects - Examples from Swedish reservoirs
Presented by Gunn Persson (Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute SMHI) at the 4th Nordic Conference on Climate Change Adaptation in Bergen, Norway, August 2016.
Read more »The potential of green and blue infrastructure to reduce urban heat load in the city of Vienna
Numerous concepts have been developed to mitigate the heat load in urban areas, such as customizing urban vegetation for shading and evaporative cooling, introducing open water
Read more »How cities can beat the heat
What measures may be effective in reducing the urban heat island effect and cool down cities during heat waves? A comparison of recent insights from scientific studies
Read more »Wave-driven harbour agitation due to climate change in Catalan ports
Changes in coastal wave patterns due to the effect of climate change can affect harbour agitation (oscillations within the port due to wind waves).
Read more »Adapting rail and road networks to weather extremes: case studies for southern Germany and Austria
In the past decade, winter consequences and flood events accounted for 96% of the total rail and road networks costs in the Alps, 92% in mid-Europe and 91% across EUR29.
Read more »Costs estimates of weather extremes on transport now and in 40 years
Railways are the losers of climate change thanks to their expensive—and therefore vulnerable—infrastructure and their complex vehicle routing system and high safety standards.
Read more »Extreme weather and climate change impacts on inland waterway transport
On the Rhine–Main–Danube corridor no decrease in the performance of inland waterway transport due to extreme weather events is expected till 2050.
Read more »Extreme weather challenging European transport systems
Better technologies and higher safety standards will influence the accident rate more than the expected weather changes
Read more »Bulk cargo companies vulnerabilities at low water on the Rhine
The vulnerability of bulk cargo companies along the River Rhine to low water periods has been studied for the near and distant future.
Read more »Climate change adaptation for seaports
The Port of Rotterdam (Netherlands) is an example of a seaport that has already taken steps toward adaptation. This port joined forces with
Read more »Impacts on UK railway network
Possible temperature-related climate change impacts on the main line railway network of Great Britain have been assessed. Regional climate model projections for the future period 2030–2059
Read more »Consequences for inland waterway transport in Europe
At extremely low water levels, the price per tonne for inland waterway transport in the river Rhine area will almost double. These increased transport prices result in welfare losses.
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