New report warns of “cascading system failure” caused by climate change

[one...two...tree 2,762]

From roads and bridges to power plants and gas pipelines, American infrastructure is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, according to a pair of government reports released Thursday.

The reports are technical documents supporting the National Climate Assessment, a major review compiled by 13 government agencies that the U.S. Global Change Research Program is expected to release in April. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory put together the reports, which warn that climate-fueled storms, flooding and droughts could cause “cascading system failures” unless there are changes made to minimize those effects. Island Press has published the full-length version of the reports, which focus onenergy and infrastructure more broadly.

Thomas Wilbanks, a research fellow at Oak Ridge and the lead author and editor of the reports, said this is the first attempt to look at the climate implications across all sectors and regions. Rather than isolating specific types of infrastructure, Wilbanks said, the report looks at how “one impact can have impacts on the others.”

Previous extreme weather events, which scientists warn may be exacerbated by climate change, offer insight to the types of failures they’re talking about. For example, during Hurricane Katrina, the loss of electricity in the region meant that several major oil pipelines could not ship oil and gas for several days, and some refineries could not operate. Gas prices rose around the country.

Other scenarios include a major storm wiping out communications lines, a blackout that cuts power to sewage treatment or wastewater systems, and a weather event that damages a bridge or major highway. In the latter case, the damage would not only cost money to repair, but could cause traffic backups or delays in the shipment of goods, which could in turn have wider economic implications. As the report describes it:

A central theme of the report is that vulnerabilities and impacts are issues beyond physical infrastructures themselves. The concern is with the value of services provided by infrastructures, where the true consequences of impacts and disruptions involve not only the costs associated with the cleanup, repair, and/or replacement of affected infrastructures but also economic, social, and environmental effects as supply chains are disrupted, economic activities are suspended, and/or social well-being is threatened.

While many reports on climate change focus on the long-term impacts, looking ahead 50 or 100 years, the effects described in Thursday’s reports are the kind that cities, states, and the federal government can expect to see in the next few decades, Wilbanks said.

“There’s this crunch between vulnerability of infrastructure because it’s aging or stressed because they are so heavily used, and they’re being exposed to new threats like more frequent, extreme weather events,” says Wilbanks. All this comes at a time, Wilbanks said, where governments at every level are facing “great difficulty in coming up with public sector financing to replace or revitalize them.”

The energy report also exposes vulnerabilities in the system. It points to recent cases where heat waves caused massive spikes in energy use for cooling buildings, putting strain on the power grid. It also highlights instances where power plants were at risk of flooding, or had to shut down or scale back operations due to high temperaturesand droughts.

“One quarter of existing power generation facilities are in counties associated with some type of water sustainability concern,” said David Schmalzer, coauthor of the energy-focused report. “Warmer air and water are expected to reduce the efficiency of thermal power, while hydropower and biofuels will also face increased uncertainty. Even electricity sources not dependent on water supplies, such as wind and solar power, also face increased variability, as a changing climate will potentially impact the variability of their resources.”

“Fixing infrastructure resilience problems [requires] a partnership between different levels of government, industry, nongovernmental organizations, and community groups. No one party is the best to do it all,” said Wilbanks. “What we really need is some innovative thinking about financing.”

http://grist.org/climate-energy/new-report-warns-of-cascading-system-failure-caused-by-climate-change/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=update&utm_campaign=socialflow

Edited March 9, 2014 by Porterhouse

[eieio 1,594]

The climate is always changing,always has and always will be.

Its going to get warmer,then colder,more rain,less rain etc.

Equipment needs to be repaired. Same as always.

Nothing we can do about it. No need to worry about it.

[lostinblue 1,989]

the 20th century stands out as one of the wettest over the last 1,300 years, yet the droughts of the mid-1920s, 1977 and the late 1980s caused immense hardship for society, based as it is on heavy water usage. California's rapidly growing population and enormous agricultural industry rely on irrigation and groundwater.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-ingram-california-drought-20140203,0,5178537.story#ixzz2vX1QRUDR

A particularly dry stretch occurred between AD 900 and 1400 (during the Medieval Warm Period), with two 100-year droughts in California and the Southwest. Throughout the Southwest, archaeological remains show that flourishing civilizations all but disappeared as their agricultural bases withered.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-ingram-california-drought-20140203,0,5178537.story#ixzz2vX2h1gQ7

Man has built where the population should never have been. There have been several 100 year mega droughts long before men did anything to contribute or cause them.

Scientists say their research shows the 20th century was one of the wettest centuries in the past 1,300 years. During that time, we built massive dams and rerouted rivers. We used abundant water to build major cities and create a $45 billion agriculture industry in a place that used to be a desert.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2575591/California-mega-drought-century-records-state-one-driest-periods-1580.html#ixzz2vX5hu4iy
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Looks like we have a population problem. Time to send the undocumented democrats back home ...... Help preserve the Eco-system.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Hippies. Sheesh.

[misterbigtoe 45]

Where the hell were the alarmists screaming about climate change when the ice began to recede from it's max in the late pleistocene? Must not have been much money to be made in climate research and carbon credits in those good old days.MBT

[Pooky 3,784]

Where the hell were the alarmists screaming about climate change when the ice began to recede from it's max in the late pleistocene? Must not have been much money to be made in climate research and carbon credits in those good old days.MBT

I hear that the wooly mammoths complained that it was getting a bit warm, but then they just upped and left.

[misterbigtoe 45]

I hear that the wooly mammoths complained that it was getting a bit warm, but then they just upped and left.

Hmmm, wonder if mammoths were particularly gassy.............maybe a bit too flatulent?