Extreme temperatures aren’t just a public health concern: they also affect how we get around.
Everything from car and bus travel to air travel is negatively impacted by sustained hot weather, Shane D. Phillips explains. Cars and buses face buckling concrete roadways and tar so hot it sticks to tires. Trains are in danger of derailing thanks to warped steel rails. Airplanes can’t find the lift they need in extreme hot weather.
Pedestrians and cyclists find it especially hard to get around in the heat. The result? More people stay indoors or in their cars, relying on fossil fuels to keep them cool and to get from place to place.
“This is especially tragic for its timing,” Phillips writes. "Just as we’re finally seeing success in turning the tide back toward healthier, more sustainable lifestyles, tens of millions of people are being instructed to stay indoors and rely on air conditioning to get them through half the year or more.”
Read the full story: Extreme Temperatures Are Affecting Every Mode of Transportation
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
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