Impact of Climate Change on Transportation: As Security Issue

Transportation is an important part of daily life in the World, however few people pause to consider its importance. The World businesses depend on reliable transportation services to receive material and transport products to their customers; a robust transportation network is essential to the economy. In short, a reliable transportation system is vital to the nation's social and economic future. During the past decade or so, people have become concerned with how human activities may affect the World's climate. This concern has focused largely on anthropogenic Global Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) that are generated by human activity such as the combustion of fuel for transportation. Anthropogenic GHGs intensify the natural greenhouse effect, increasing the heat trapped inside the atmosphere. The concern is that human activity may be increasing the concentration of atmospheric GHGs enough to alter the climate worldwide. Potential impacts of climate change on transportation are geographically widespread, modally diverse, and may affect both transportation infrastructure and operations. This paper investigates the potential of direct impacts for climate variability and change on transportation. Also, indirect impacts are addressed.