NYC climate threats: sweltering subways, flooding
Posted by at Aug 14th, 2008 in Climate Change
Filed under: Polit-eco , Climate Change With his final term of office winding down, New York City’s mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to solidify his place in the city’s history by safeguarding its infrastructure against the threats of a warming climate. To get the ball rolling, he needs some trustworthy doom and gloom data. That’s why he’s commissioned an in-depth study of all the threats that could face city as sea levels and temperatures rise. While the threats associated with climate change aren’t just any old problem, the approach to dealing with it are fairly similar. “In order to manage any problem, first you have to measure it,” says Bloomberg . A task force has been assigned to figure out what it will take to protect all of the city’s tunnels, bridges, water and sewer lines, and of course public transit. Aside from washed out bridges and sewer lines, one of the big worries seems to be the dizzying heat in the subway. As temperatures rise, officials worry that more people will crowd into the subways , rather than walk, bike, or whatever. Thus, the subways, already hotter because of soaring outside temperatures, would become even steamier. All this, while riders would experience greater delays . Sounds like fun right? Planning for a catastrophe the size of global warming seems daunting, but it’s kinda nice to see someone trying to come up with some facts and figures on what it would take to survive. Instead of the all too common facts and figures about the devastation of the worst case scenario. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
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NYC climate threats: sweltering subways, flooding
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Tags: bridges, global-warming, hotsubways
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