Skip to 0 minutes and 7 seconds Climate change is set to cause major changes across the world. Sea levels will rise. Weather patterns will change and become more extreme. This will increase the likelihood of not only flooding, soil erosion and landslides, but also in some cases the frequency and duration of droughts and higher ambient temperatures on some roads. The UN has warned that in order to limit adverse impacts. The world needs to reduce global warming to below 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. But scientists say that keeping to the 1.5 degrees C target will require rapid, far reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.
Skip to 0 minutes and 44 seconds Our challenge is to mitigate the risk of climate change on the rural road network by adapting how we design and maintain roads. We need to amend our specifications and design criteria to take account of predicted changes in the environment over the design lives of our infrastructure. My name is Dr. David Hughes. I’m a highway engineer with almost 40 years experience working as a research academic and a consulting engineer on pavement design and rehabilitation across the world. This module will help you understand the science behind climate change and discuss how we might approach mitigation and adaptation of our rural road network.
