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How Will Climate Change Impact Infrastructure In New Mexico?

Grace Martinez

The infrastructure of our societies (housing, schools, hospitals, etc.) is something that we use in our daily lives and is often overlooked when talking about the impacts of climate change.

Design Standards. Our infrastructure is built to be adequate with the historical climate so it will most likely become inadequate with climate change. Such changes are already taking effect as we have seen in recent years. Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the effects of inadequate infrastructure.

Transportation systems.

• Longer, hotter summers will necessitate increased maintenance of roads due to increased brushfires, and will cause heat stress for maintenance employees.
• Increased storm intensity will lead to increased erosion, roadway damage caused by insufficient drainage, damage to bridges and piers from flooding, and airport delays due to turbulence.
• Drought: Increase of dust impaired visibility areas, soil depletion under roadways and rail lines causing instability, and increased erosion.
  Transportation needs must  be met by restricting vehicle emissions and increasing the use of public transportation.

Urban Infrastructure and System Adaptations.

• Higher temperatures, more intense storms and droughts will result in extreme demands on our energy systems.
• Cooling systems will need to cope with increased heat. Potential solutions include retrofitting cooling systems to be more energy efficient, new energy efficient technology, and designing buildings to stay cooler.
• Excessive water flow may overwhelm catchment and drainage systems which will cause flooding, structural damage and safety hazards. Drainage systems will have to be modified to deal with changes in rainfall patterns. Possible solutions include development of systems with better storage capacity. Adaptation will require research and implementation of efficient building and landscaping designs. New buildings will have to be designed more energy efficient and existing buildings will have to be retrofitted.
•  Sewage treatment facilities will require new or retrofitted systems to use less water and to be able to cope with sudden increased rainfall. 

Usage Adaptations. To meet the upcoming changes in climate, infrastructure designs will face severe adaptations. It is important to remember that smaller changes can be made by decreasing the daily use of our resources to combat the harmful effects of climate change.