Climate Change is Disrupting Air Travel

The document details how climate change disrupts U.S. transportation systems through acute events like hurricanes and chronic stressors like sea level rise. It highlights significant projected costs for asphalt maintenance and railroad delays, the vulnerability of coastal highways and bridges, and the necessity of proactive adaptation, such as using heat-resistant materials and nature-based solutions, to mitigate economic losses.

• Extreme heat causes physical degradation of transportation materials, leading to warping, buckling, and the malfunction of mechanical parts in infrastructure like movable bridges. Under an intermediate emissions scenario, this is projected to increase asphalt pavement maintenance costs by $21.8 billion by 2070 and cause cumulative railroad delays costing up to $60 billion by 2100.
• Wildfires in the western U.S. damage roadways by melting asphalt binder and increasing the likelihood of subsequent landslides. Between 2000 and 2019, over 256,000 miles of roads in the contiguous U.S. were exposed to large fires.
• Increased precipitation and sea level rise threaten coastal and underground infrastructure. Up to 100,000 U.S. bridges, primarily in the east, are vulnerable to flooding from heavier rainfall, with adaptation costs estimated between $140 billion and $250 billion by 2100. Additionally, high tide flooding frequency in the U.S. has more than doubled since 2000 and is expected to more than triple by 2050.
• Sea level rise is projected to cause a 10-fold increase in East Coast traffic delays due to high tide flooding by 2060 compared to the 2010s. By 2056–2065, high tide flooding could occur almost daily in several states, including Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.
• Adaptation strategies to improve resilience include using higher heat grades of asphalt, implementing nature-based solutions like living shorelines, and incorporating future climate projections into infrastructure planning. Proactive adaptation could save tens of billions of dollars annually in climate-related costs for U.S. roads and railroads by 2050.

APA

Climate Central (2026). Climate Change is Disrupting Air Travel. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/climate-change-and-transportation-2026

Chicago

Climate Central. Climate Change is Disrupting Air Travel. 2026. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/climate-change-and-transportation-2026.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Central |title=Climate Change is Disrupting Air Travel |date=4 February 2026 |url=https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/climate-change-and-transportation-2026 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatecentral2026climate, author = {{Climate Central}}, title = {{Climate Change is Disrupting Air Travel}}, institution = {Climate Central}, year = {2026}, month = feb, url = {https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/climate-change-and-transportation-2026}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }