Climate Change and Infrastructure Vulnerabilities.
ANSWER
The discussion you’ve provided outlines an important connection between global climate change and its impact on critical infrastructure (CI) and national security, referencing various sources to support the claims made. It’s clear that global climate change poses a significant threat not only to the environment but also to our essential infrastructure and national security.
The long-term degradation of critical infrastructure due to climate change, as described in the example of deteriorating reinforced concrete and rebar, highlights the need for resilient infrastructure design and maintenance. As climate change continues to progress, it becomes imperative to invest in infrastructure that can withstand the challenges posed by changing weather patterns and extreme conditions.
The discussion also raises the issue of how natural disasters, which are exacerbated by climate change, can expose the vulnerabilities of aging critical infrastructure. The case of Hurricane Sandy and its impact on the American northeast in 2012 serves as a poignant example of the consequences of infrastructure unprepared for the new climate reality. This emphasizes the necessity for adaptive and responsive strategies to protect our infrastructure and national security in the face of climate change.
Furthermore, the impact of climate change on the transportation sector, an essential component of critical infrastructure, is an important point to consider. The transportation sector’s role in supporting the movement of goods and personnel, both nationally and internationally, makes it a key concern for national security. Investments in infrastructure resilience and sustainability are crucial to ensure the continued operation of these systems, especially in the face of more frequent and severe climate-related disruptions.
Overall, the discussion effectively highlights the intricate relationship between climate change, critical infrastructure, and national security, underscoring the need for proactive measures to address these interconnected challenges.
QESTION
Description
reply to discussion
The main cause of global climate change is the large amount of carbon dioxide and various other greenhouse gases that have been released into the atmosphere, creating a barrier around the Earth, and responsible for increasing the Earth’s average temperature by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century (Webersik, 2010). This temperature increase has resulted in floods, droughts, extreme temperatures, and other weather changes that were not present a century ago. Global climate change indirectly weakens U.S. national security through its effects on critical infrastructure, public health, the economy, and conflicts over new or diminishing resources.
Global climate change impacts the quality of CI in two ways. First, climate change causes degradation in CI over time. For example, reinforced concrete currently being used in CI has become victim to the increased atmospheric carbon and higher temperatures caused by global climate change. Moreover, climate change has slowly rendered rebar brittle, corroded, and expanded, decreasing the life of the concrete from the expected seventy-five years to a shorter lifespan of fifty years.
Secondly, the natural disasters stemming from global climate change exploit the weaknesses of the aging CI. The inability of CI to adapt to these weather-related changes has been demonstrated over the past decade. For example, Hurricane Sandy, which hit the American northeast in 2012, was able to disrupt and cripple the critical infrastructure in less than two days, resulting in 4.7 million people over a dozen states losing electricity, flooded streets, submerged subways, the flooding of five New York waste water plants that released waste onto city streets, and billions of dollars’ worth of damage to businesses and homes (Wilbanks & Fernandez, 2014). Other examples of the impact of natural disasters on CI include the collapse of Alaska’s transportation sector and massive damage to water pipelines in Oklahoma, which will be discussed below. Look at the case of the transportation sector is an expansive, open, and accessible interconnected system of highways, roads, tracks, terminals, and pipelines that provide services that are essential to U.S. national security. This sector is depended on by many U.S. government actors to rapidly and securely move tradable goods and personnel through the U.S. and overseas.
References
Webersik, C. (2010). Climate Change and Security: A Gathering Storm of Global Challenges. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Wilbanks, T. J., & Fernandez, S. (2014). Climate Change and Infrastructure, Urban Systems, and Vulnerabilities: Technical Report for the U.S. Department of Energy in Support of the National Climate Assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press.
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