InfrastructureInfrastructure for a Changing Climate
As the U.S. debates whether and how to invest in its infrastructure, a lot is at stake, said Mariette diChristina, dean of the College of Communication at Boston University. “Infrastructure is built to last for decades — sometimes even a hundred years or more — so what we decide to do today will have a large effect on how things go tomorrow, including how we adapt to or mitigate climate change in the future.”
The buckled roads and melted power cables caused by recent record heat in the Pacific Northwest were the latest illustration of the types of hazards posed to infrastructure by climate change and its extremes. Increasingly, the nation’s roads, bridges, and electrical grid face not just normal wear-and-tear from use but added punishment from higher temperatures, rising sea levels, and more intense hurricanes.
So, as the U.S. debates whether and how to invest in its infrastructure, a lot is at stake, said Mariette diChristina, dean of the College of Communication at Boston University.
“Infrastructure is built to last for decades — sometimes even a hundred years or more — so what we decide to do today will have a large effect on how things go tomorrow, including how we adapt to or mitigate climate change in the future.”
DiChristina moderated a June webinar hosted by the National Academies that explored the intersection of climate change and infrastructure. The discussion included John L. Anderson, president of the National Academy of Engineering, and Thomas Bostick, former chief of engineers and commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), who was responsible for most of the nation’s civil works infrastructure during his tenure and led the recovery effort following Hurricane Sandy.
A Range of Risks for Infrastructure
Climate change poses a variety of threats to infrastructure, explained Anderson, noting that one example is the thawing of permafrost; in some areas, the built environment sits on ground that is supposed to be frozen 12 months of the year and now isn’t. Meanwhile, the Southwest is facing water management issues, the East coast is coping with flooding, and coastal regions are grappling with salinization of soils.
“It differs from region to region, so there’s no one answer for the United States,” said Anderson. “It has to be geographically targeted, and many different disciplines need to come into play. The important point is we have to worry about it, and we have to do something about it and design for it.”
Nature-based infrastructure, such as living shorelines, also needs attention, said Bostick. “That’s part of our infrastructure, and it’s an important part of our ecosystem that we have to focus on as we look at climate change.”
