Extreme Heat Is Bad News for Transportation

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.”