I have been surprised any infrastructure did so well up to now, but, the polar vortex primarily hit the Midwest last year with some episodes on the East Coast.
February 20, 2015
By Jeannette Reyes
WASHINGTON (AP/WJLA) - Cracked rails (click here) due to cold weather and switch issues are causing headaches for commuters using the rails early Friday morning in the D.C. area....
States need to be checking bridge and road infrastructure. The rails are not the only infrastructure under stress.
I have my doubts about commercial airliners. They are exposed to cold and pressure changes in the upper troposphere, but, I'd keep a close eye on the jet's fuselage anyway. That goes for military jets as well. The enemy to jets isn't cold necessarily, but, the heat and expanding fuselage past what their design provided.
There is a bigger and more eminent problem with jets, namely turbulence.
The rails are contracting beyond their design. This was all known. Sidewalks have been exploding in the southern margin of the country and expansion of the rails in that same area has slowed trains. There are going to be major problems from here forward. If carbon dioxide wasn't so loved by Republicans and their crony petroleum industry this could have all been avoided. The USA runs on movement. This is going to hurt.
Shipping lanes will probably be okay. The Arctic Circle is primarily sea ice as of this year. It still is a fairly hostile place, but, the icebergs will diminish in number and size. Antarctica has increasing sea ice because of the water run off, but, the icebergs will remain sizable. The ice shelves will completely collapse. There is a question about the terraces. The terraces can collapse and fall into the circumpolar circulation if they can't sustain their structure without the shelves.
Antarctica ice is complicated. It flows and is not a completely solid ice structure. Because the ice flows it is a single structure. When the peripheral ice breaks down it effects the structural ice all the way to the highest glaciers. If the weight of the glaciers prove to be too much for the existing ice structures supporting them, there can be catastrophic outcomes.
The only other factor is the ocean waters itself. The ice shelves are exposed to a warmer circumpolar circulation and deteriorate faster. There is a question to the extent hot air will cause deterioration of the land based ice structures. So far the land based ice has been melting and running off the continent. There is no guarantee that will continue in the same way once all the shelves are gone.
February 20, 2015
By Jeannette Reyes
WASHINGTON (AP/WJLA) - Cracked rails (click here) due to cold weather and switch issues are causing headaches for commuters using the rails early Friday morning in the D.C. area....
States need to be checking bridge and road infrastructure. The rails are not the only infrastructure under stress.
I have my doubts about commercial airliners. They are exposed to cold and pressure changes in the upper troposphere, but, I'd keep a close eye on the jet's fuselage anyway. That goes for military jets as well. The enemy to jets isn't cold necessarily, but, the heat and expanding fuselage past what their design provided.
There is a bigger and more eminent problem with jets, namely turbulence.
The rails are contracting beyond their design. This was all known. Sidewalks have been exploding in the southern margin of the country and expansion of the rails in that same area has slowed trains. There are going to be major problems from here forward. If carbon dioxide wasn't so loved by Republicans and their crony petroleum industry this could have all been avoided. The USA runs on movement. This is going to hurt.
Shipping lanes will probably be okay. The Arctic Circle is primarily sea ice as of this year. It still is a fairly hostile place, but, the icebergs will diminish in number and size. Antarctica has increasing sea ice because of the water run off, but, the icebergs will remain sizable. The ice shelves will completely collapse. There is a question about the terraces. The terraces can collapse and fall into the circumpolar circulation if they can't sustain their structure without the shelves.
Antarctica ice is complicated. It flows and is not a completely solid ice structure. Because the ice flows it is a single structure. When the peripheral ice breaks down it effects the structural ice all the way to the highest glaciers. If the weight of the glaciers prove to be too much for the existing ice structures supporting them, there can be catastrophic outcomes.
The only other factor is the ocean waters itself. The ice shelves are exposed to a warmer circumpolar circulation and deteriorate faster. There is a question to the extent hot air will cause deterioration of the land based ice structures. So far the land based ice has been melting and running off the continent. There is no guarantee that will continue in the same way once all the shelves are gone.
