Transport has been around for thousands of years, whether it is a simple horse drawn cart or a revolutionary aircraft, transportation is an integral for trade between nations and people. However global warming and climate change are affecting our ability to do this. Not only is modern transportation being affected by global warming, but it is also a major cause, with most forms of transportation releasing large amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
How do greenhouse gases cause global warming? The light from the sun passes through the atmosphere in the form of UV (Ultra Violet) light. It then bounces off the surface of the earth back into outer space in the form of IR (Infra Red) light. To go back into outer space, the IR light must first pass through the atmosphere, however, the atmosphere, like always, traps some of the escaping IR light. This is good, we want this to happen, without this feature, we would probably all die. However, the green house gasses being constantly released into the atmosphere and thickening it thus trapping more of the IR light. This is known as the greenhouse effect and it is causing the Earth to warm up(6).
This warming is obviously a bad thing, the warming will melt glaciers and other large bodies of ice (e.g. antarctica) raising the sea level. In fact, regardless of the ice melting, the sea level will rise because the increased temperature will make the water molecules move further apart, increasing the volume that they take up.
Global warming will also be responsible for storms occurring more often and being more erratic when they do occur. The planet has warmed up about one degree Celsius since before industrialisation hit the world, and for every one degree Celsius rise in te...
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...nly one real solution to this and that is to raise the tracks before the are flooded. This would stop the tracks from being flooded but the ocean could erode the earthwork holding up the railway tracks, rendering the tracks useless.
LOCAL/PERSONAL-
Dunedins Harbourside roads
Dunedin, New Zealand is a very coastal city, with many low lying/coastal roads. Many of these roads are frequently used by large amounts of the population and having them out of order could cause major traffic jams as people revert to higher roads. There is a coastal road which I take to school everyday which would definitely be affected by the estimated 1-2m increase in sea level
The projected increased sea level is one of the biggest threats to dunedins harbour roads is coastal inundation. Coastal inundation will cover Dunedins harbourside roads with water making them impassable by car
Longshore drift is a process by which sediments are transported from one place to another. When this process occurs, beaches, spits and sandbars are accreted over time. If the process of longshore drift is altered by factors such as stronger winds and stronger currents, beach erosion begins at a faster rate and this may result in many serious problems. The main stakeholders of longshore drift are resort owners. They rely on people to visit their resorts and enjoy the beach. However, if longshore drift erodes t...
Increased sea levels can give way to a variety of problems: rapid coastal erosion, shoreline change, loss of natural protective barriers, saltwater intrusion into aquifers and surface water, changes in tidal prisms (volume of water in an inlet between high tide and low tide), and rising water tables ("Climate Change and Impacts of Sea Level Rise"). Ventura County is facing many issues with rapid coastal erosion and loss of natural protective barriers. Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment (BEACON) conducted a study to evaluate the conditions of different beaches along the Ventura County coast (Barlow, "Coastal Erosion Problems Highlighted in New Study"). Port Hueneme’s western beaches (picture to the left) are losing three to five inches per month due to sea level rise pushing beaches farther back.
The damage of the Sydney June storms was devastating. Though such a powerful storm could not have been prevented, measures could have been taken to improve and minimise the impact and destruction of the storm cell. There are a number of ways in which citizens of coastal environments and suburbs could promote the sustainability of their area and the safety of their homes. Apart from the local council, coastal environments and suburbs would benefit from establishing groups of concerned residents to solely promote sustainability and prepare for damage. This group will help monitor erosion, ensure laws and rules are followed by residents and visitors and suggest ways in which coastal environments can be improved. Sufficient signage around
Semaphore is a classic Adelaide beach supporting many facilities. However, this would not be the case if coastal management was not put into progress. Coastal management is a way of supporting the world’s coasts, by using many techniques from construction of structures in which prevents wave energy from reaching the shore to planned strategies. Factors of this includes; rising sea levels, erosion, long and short term drift, sand movement and marine biology. The importance of coastal management is quite significant as it will help to prevent coastal erosion. In addition to this, without coastal management the world will be affect economically, environmentally as well as socially. Without the strategies involving the management of the coast,
The total costs of the damage that could be done to the drainage systems by say the year, twenty fifty likely exceeds that of the costs of a project like the sea wall if just a three foot rise could cost one point thirty nine billion dollars. Should something like that happens, taxpayers would probably end up paying for some of the costs that come from that damage as well. We’re in a lose-lose situation in terms of money, but we can use that money now to prevent harm from coming to our city instead of using it in the future to repair our
In conclusion, inundation events are dangerous hazards to coastal communities.1 These events are further exacerbated by sea level rise.1 Sea level rise is largely due to the warming climate, which causes thermal expansion of oceans, melting of ice caps and glaciers, and ice loss from major ice sheets.6, 11, 15 Current research suggests that sea levels may rise by more than one meter by 2100.9 The consequences of increased future sea levels could be catastrophic for populations and infrastructures14 situated on North American coasts, such Florida, New York20 and Vancouver.21 In order to cope, we can attempt to mitigate climate change through long-term strategies, or we can attempt to adapt through immediate measures. 30, 31
Do you ever feel like you are waiting at a red light in your car for what seems like forever? Well, that’s because “ The average person throughout their lifetime spends five years waiting in lines and queues where roughly six months of that is waiting at traffic lights”(How). Cities and towns have faced a transportation problem and they are looking for ways to tackle the issue. Transportation is a big part of one’s everyday life, and it is impossible to avoid it. Transportation plays a crucial role in the way we travel to things like school and work. Humans need transportation to get from place A to place B. There are different kinds of transportation, but the most common one in modern society is automobiles. Although transportation of automobiles is a quick way of traveling at the moment. Automobiles bring issues like health problems, air pollution, and high expenses. This is because humans always manage to take the easy way out without looking at the long-term effects that come with automobiles.
More heavy downpours may increase the likelihood of property damage, travel delays, and disruption in services. Sediment runoff and erosion may clog reservoirs and reduce storage capacity. Local governments may invest in new infrastructure to prevent contamination and protect water resources. Disruptions in barge traffic along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers have already occurred. Changes in the Great Lakes are less clear, but water level decline may force reductions in the weight of cargo shipments and diminish the usability of coastal infrastructure, such as docks and
While many may have stated that intermodal transportation is better in long run for the environment, it is often the good with the bad altitude that pushes the goals of intermodal transportation across to the public. There is no doubt that the transport sector contributes significantly to the overall energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gases (SAWADOGO; ANCIAUX; ROY 2012, May). Transportation systems and networks are being often associated with the main cause of global warming; often without even providing a solution. However, intermodal transportation leads the way in finding alternative fuels and even multiply modes of transportation to decrease emission. Intermodal transportation often choose the mode with the less of an environmental
...ous weather event was hurricane Sandy which hit in 2011. Hurricane Sandy hit the states of New York and New Jersey, climate change most likely made Sandy worse of a storm than it would have originally been. With help of raised sea levels hurricane Sandy broke records with a 13.2 foot storm surge, the sea surface temperature along the east coast gave rise to above mediocre levels of water vapor that intensified the storm. This is just one of the many extreme storms there have been on account of climate change cause by global warming. Humans have also left their “fingerprint” in other sides of climate change including in the changes in ocean heat content, precipitation, and the Arctic sea ice. The cutting down of many trees is also a contributor to the high levels of carbon dioxide. In the following graph, the change in temperature is shown based on temperature
Observational records indicate that sea level has already risen between 10 and 25 cm globally over the past 100 years. In addition, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has projected a sea-level rise of 15-95 cm as a consequence of global warming. Sea-level rise will also increase the depth of coastal waters and increase inland and upstream salinity intrusion, both of which affect fresh and brackish water wetlands. Sea-level rise has the potential for increasing the severity of storm surges, particularly in areas where coastal habitats and barrier shorelines are rapidly deteriorating. These direct consequences of global- and regional-scale changes will increase the vulnerability of coastal wetlands which are already heavily impacted by human activities.
Maldives is a collection of about 1000 islands with a combined mass of 115 square miles occupied by approximately 330,000 people, which is in the Indian Ocean (Hannah, J. A., Muller, P. O., & Nijman, J., 2012). The rise in the sea level is a concern that all of Maldives shares, the islands only set eight feet above sea level at its highest point. Any rise in the sea level would disrupt the country’s economic balance. The rising sea level threatens the beachfront resorts for which most of Maldives economy depends on. Thousands of people every year travel to Maldives to...
RISING SEA LEVEL AND ITS MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS/COASTAL WETLANDS BEING MOST VULNERABLE AND THE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES AND IMPACTS (2 PAGES)
The waterline is expanding as the shoreline is becoming more narrow. Coastal erosion has both natural causes and human activities that can be affiliated with the cause. Gradual coastal erosion is from the very slow rise of sea levels from the impending ice cap melting caused by global warming. Severe coastal erosion occurs over a short period of time, especially when the coastline is consistently impacted by hurricanes, tropical storms and other weather systems. Some coastal erosion may be caused by poorly thought-out coastal development by the greedy human nature that wants to profit off the natural beauty. However, those places of beauty are ruined in the long run. As you travel down the coast on the highway, cruising through those small towns with souvenirs shops to each side, seafood restaurants mixed in and public access trails to the beaches spotted along the route you will notice that the buildings directly on the beach are on
Many Caribbean country coastlines are facing rampant coastal erosion. Coastal erosion and accretion has continuously existed and contributed to shaping the present coastlines. Coastal erosion is now largely intensified due to human activities, although engineering structures are aimed at solving erosion problems, it has long been known that these projects can also contribute to creating problems at other nearby locations. Dramatic examples of side effects are presented by Darsan and Alexis (2014), who state that about 20,000 square metres of sand have been removed from the beaches of Trinidad and Tobago by engineering works during 1994 and 2007. Trinidad and Tobago has the highest level of coastal erosion in the Caribbean, with the country losing more than 50,000 square meters of land in less than 20 years.