Abstract
Infrastructures, such as transport, energy sector, water systems, and health facilities, are critical for maintaining a secure, healthy, and wealthy society. Climate change poses hazards to these critical infrastructures in the form of partial or total damage. Exposure to climate change is even more severe for Canada’s infrastructure since the temperature rise in Canada is twice compared to the global average. Hence it is essential that existing and future infrastructures are made climate-resilient. Identifying the degree of climate-induced hazards on local infrastructure is the first step to making infrastructure resilient. This paper reviews recent research on hazards related to the local infrastructure in British Columbia (Canada). In this region, infrastructure is threatened by multiple climate hazards, such as permafrost-related geohazards, coastal and river floods, wildfires, heatwaves, and earthquakes. A comprehensive literature review on the historical climate disasters, local climate change, and regional distribution of infrastructures is conducted. This preliminary analysis considers three main climate hazards (permafrost-related geohazards, river and coastal floods, and wildfires) and three types of infrastructures (energy, transport, industry). The results indicate climate change impacts vary with location and type of infrastructure. The findings of this work help allocate resources to regional infrastructures that will ensure that present and future infrastructure in British Columbia are climate resilient.
Presenters
Anber RanaPostdoctral Research Fellow and Sessional Instructor, School of Engineering , The University of British Columbia - Okanagan Campus, British Columbia, Canada Shahria Alam
The University of British Columbia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Assessing Impacts in Diverse Ecosystems
KEYWORDS
Climate Change, Hazard Identification, Infrastructure, Canada, Permafrost, Geohazard, Wildfires, Floods
