Adaptation of Infrastructure Systems

Infrastructure systems, defined in this paper as conventional “economic infrastructure” (energy, transport, digital communications, water, and waste management), sustain civilizations. Many of these systems are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as sea level rise, river and surface water flooding, landslides, wildfires, permafrost melt, droughts, and other extreme events. We estimate that more than 200,000 km of roads are currently exposed to climate-related hazards worldwide which could increase to 237,000 km by 2050 due to climate change, without inclusion of the new highway construction that will take place in that period.

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