Climate Change : Adaptating to the Inevitable? IMECHE

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers has released a new report, which considers the possible climate changes that we may expect over the next 1000 years due to continuing carbon dioxide emissions, and recommends what engineers need to do to adapt to our future world so that we can cope with these changes.

Four areas of engineering are considered under different scenarios - energy, water, buildings and transport - together with an exploration of how they will need to be adapted to deliver a more resilient and robust adaptive management plan.

A number of recommendations are made: first, rising sea-levels and increased flooding will require serious consideration of the viability of settlements, transport routes and infrastructure; secondly, to protect the welfare of its citizens, governments must support climate adaptation; thirdly, more research, development and investment in renewable energy sources is required to offset the loss of fossil fuels; fourthly, greater investment in Carbon Capture and Storage is needed; and finally, the industrialised world needs to take the lead in taking responsibility for the economic needs of vulnerable nations.