The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation

TRB Special Report 290: The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation explores the consequences of climate change for U.S. transportation infrastructure and operations. The report provides an overview of the scientific consensus on the current and future climate changes of particular relevance to U.S. transportation, including the limits of present scientific understanding as to their precise timing, magnitude, and geographic location; identifies potential impacts on U.S. transportation and adaptation options; and offers recommendations for both research and actions that can be taken to prepare for climate change.

The report also summarizes previous work on strategies for reducing transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide—the primary greenhouse gas—that contribute to climate change.  Five commissioned papers used by the committee to help develop the report, a summary of the report, and a National Academies press release associated with the report are available online.

A summary of the report, as published in the May-June 2008 issue of TR News, is also available online.