Literature Review: Transportation Adaptation in Response to Climate Change.

摘要

Scientific evidence on climate change and the potential for serious global impact is now stronger than ever (Stern, 2006). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a statement in the Fourth Assessment Report that there is a ninety-percent probability (very high confidence) that greenhouse gas emissions produced by human activities have caused most of the observed global warming since the mid-twentieth century (IPCC, 2007). Over recent years, global warming has occurred at a rate of 0.2DGC per decade, leading to observable changes such as varying rainfall patterns, sea level rise, ice and snow melt, and increase in intensity and frequency of extreme weather events (IPCC, 2007). As global warming continues, time is running out to stabilize and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid the devastating impacts on our planet (Environment, Heritage, and Local Government, 2007). A growing concern facing the transportation sector in the United States is the potential impact of climate change on land transportation. As scientific evidence on climate change continues to support the relationship between anthropogenic activities and global warming, greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise at a rate of more than 2 parts per million each year (Stern, 2006). Currently the United States is the largest emitter worldwide, with transportation accounting for one third of carbon dioxide emissions (Ewing et al., 2008). Therefore, much of the discussion and efforts related to transportation and climate change is focused on mitigation and reducing transportations contribution to climate change (Valsson and Ulfarsson, 2009).