Climate Change Could Snarl Travel Plans in Future

Driving and flying is about to get more unpleasant

By Sam Gale Rosen, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 12, 2008 7:05 PM CDT

(Newser) – As if the notion of heat waves and rising sea levels weren't bad enough, climate change also has the potential to royally screw up your travel plans. A new report shows that increased flooding in coastal areas could put a serious kink in road and rail travel, not to mention washing out the occasional bridge. And hotter days will make it tougher for airplanes to take off with their usual payload, which could cause major headaches, reports a Newsweek science blog.

“If runways are not sufficiently long for large aircraft to build up enough speed to generate lift, aircraft weight must be reduced or some flights canceled altogether," says the new National Research Council report on transportation. Also on the agenda: more 24-hour rainstorms that can cut off all transportation in a region for days.

Climate change will also worsen airport delays in the near term. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file) (Associated Press)

If climate change brings hotter days, that could mean longer lines at the airport. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) (Associated Press)

Floods will become increasingly common, periodically cutting off all traffic through entire regions. (AP Photo/Chris Ison/PA) (Associated Press)

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Driving and flying is about to get more unpleasant

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

climate change • Travel • global warming • heat wave • flooding • transportation • air travel • ocean levels

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Angry Over Regulation, Spirit Institutes Snarky Fee

'Unintended Consequence' fee intended to chide transportation department

'No Global Warming'? Critics Slam 2 Articles

Science scribes lambaste articles in the Wall Street Journal , Daily Mail

Study: 14 Practical Steps Can Slow Climate Change

Try ditching wood cook stoves in developing world

To Pinch Pennies, Nonstop Flights ... Stop

United is using smaller plane to fly trans-Atlantic ... and stiff winds spell trouble

CO2 Emissions 'Will Defer Ice Age'

Carbon dioxide levels creating long 'interglacial' period

About Us

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Newser By Users

Community

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More News

What is Newser?