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An independent report to the cross-departmental Infrastructure and Adaptation project has been published by Defra. Adapting Energy, Transport and Water Infrastructure to the Long-term Impacts of Climate Change sets out the case for adapting infrastructure in the energy, transport and water sectors so that new and existing infrastructure is able to operate effectively in a long-term changing climate.
Although the report’s findings and recommendations are not endorsed by Government, they will be considered by the project as part of its two year programme of work to identify and examine strategic solutions to improve the long-term resilience of new and existing infrastructure in the energy, transport and water sectors to future climate change impacts.
The report by shows that infrastructure in these three priority sectors is potentially at risk, technically and operationally, from climate change if they do not plan effectively now to cope with its effects. On water, the report highlights the following key risks:
Water supply, treatment and infrastructure
Wastewater collection, treatment and disposal
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Increased sewer (pluvial) flooding due to increased precipitation and storm surges.
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Increased fluvial flooding due to increased precipitation and storm surges.
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Increased pollution incidents due to changing precipitation patterns and periods of drought.
Interpendency of infrastructure could cause critical failures
An important finding of the study is that the infrastructure system is highly interconnected - with interconnections between the infrastructure components both within and between the three sectors and with the ICT sector. The study identifies two specific types of interdependencies which could have far greater impacts on infrastructure functionality than individual failures, with the floods in Cumbria in 2009 and in Humberside in 2007 cited as key examples.:
Cascade failures - a series of linked impacts or failures
Regional convergences - regional concentrations of infrastructure, which, if impacted by an extreme weather event, could have consequences on functionality at a national scale in one or more of the three sectors.
Long- term climate change impacts must be addressed
The report focuses on the long-term impacts of climate change (2030s to 2100) to the infrastructure in the three sectors, setting out the long-term risks from climate change to the infrastructure, both technically and operationally and proposals on how these should be addressed. The report will inform Defra’s Adapting to Climate Change Programme, its Infrastructure and Adaptation project, individual Government departments and industry.
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