Infrastructure, Misc. Impacts

2018-2024 Articles

American Infrastructure Has a Hot-Steel Problem 0824

Hellish NYC Commutes Reveal Aging Wires Are No Match for Extreme Heat 0824

How Climate Change Could Make Pesticides Even Deadlier 0824

Amtrak Passengers Face Record Delays from Extreme Weather 0724

Greece Shuts Acropolis, as Southern Europe Swelters in a Heat Wave 0724

The World’s Power Grids Are Failing as the Planet Warms 0724

Searing Heat Triggers Fuel-Supply Worries at Oil Refineries in Europe, etc. 0724

Midwest Floods, Widespread Heat Waves Undermine U.S. Transportation Systems 0624

Where Heat Waves Might Cause Blackouts across the US 0524

Extreme Heat Shuts Schools for Millions, Widening Learning Gaps Worldwide 0524

Extreme Heat Shuts Philippine Power Plants and Risks Blackouts 0424

US Seeing Rise in Climate-Related Power Outages 0424

Extreme Heat Summit to Urge Leaders to Act on Threat from Rising Temperatures 0324

Climate Change, Costly Disasters Sent Texas Home Insurance Rates Soaring 1123

As Extreme Weather Increasingly Threatens Crops, Taxpayers Pay the Price 1123

Hotter Days Are Increasing Car Crashes and Fatalities 0923

Summer of Record Heat Deals Costly Damage to Texas Water Systems 0923

Waves along California’s Coast Are Getting Bigger 0823

European Tourists Head North to Dodge Heat 0823

Climate Change Is Warping the Ground Our Sinking Cities Are Built on 0723 - study of Chicago underground.
Ground moving 1 inch creates big problems for infrastructure - pipes, wires, building foundations, etc.

California’s Cliffs Are Crumbling, as Climate Change Reshapes the Coast 0523

World ‘Population Bomb’ May Never Oo Off as Feared, Finds Study 0323

How Smoke from Australia’s Mega-Fires Ate Away at the Ozone 0323

California's System to Defend against Mudslides Is Put to the Ultimate Test 0123

Why Seattle Currently Has the Worst Air Quality in the World 1022

In Los Angeles, the Grass Isn’t Always Greener This Year 0822

How Extreme Heat Could Wreck Cities 0822 - Welcome to Meltsville!  Flights are grounded as hot air does not provide enough lift, while runways get gooey.  Roads get squishy or concrete slabs expand and buckle.  Drawbridge motor and electronic sensors fail from heat.  Bridges buckle from expansion.  So do railroad tracks.  Thermal power plants become less efficient as ambient water temperatures rise; some need to shut down.  Power lines sag with heat expansion, and must carry less electricity to avoid sagging into vegetation and igniting fires.  If power fails, people can die from lack of air conditioning.   Water mains break more often as weather gets hotter.  Vinyl siding warps.  Buildings heat up, iintensifying urban heat island.  Awnings and white roofs become more popular.  A green space called Toasty Critters Park is closed due to danger of falling limbs from shade trees.

Why Climate Change Often Hits Women Harder than Men 0522 - During droughts, women and girls must walk further, often in the dark, to fetch water.  That puts them at greater risk of sexual violence.  Also, they can only make fewer trips, reducing the amount of water available to the family — and leaving even less for women in cultures where men are the first to eat and drink.  The scarcity can also make menstrual hygiene harder and stop girls going to school….  Floods that displace people or destroy toilets and make sanitation products scarce, carry an extra burden in countries with strong taboos around menstruation….

Most Buildings Were Designed for an Earlier Climate; Here's What Will Happen as Global Warming Accelerates 0721 - Termites and melting asphalt, concrete cancer, overheating and flooding, high winds tear off roofing.  Heat expansion can wreak havoc on rails and buildings, as foundations shake with differential expansion.

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2017 Articles and earlier