AE Today

In the previous Climate Change Conversations, we described how we know with confidence that human activity is driving ongoing climate change, and how this change will accelerate in the future. In this edition, we will explore what this change means for climate at the local scale, how it relates to natural weather patterns, and how it can be integrated into engineering design.

In the second installment of our Climate Change Conversations, Climate Science & Modelling Specialist, Jeremy Fyke, explores what is causing current climate change, and how this change could accelerate in the future.

Recognizing the risks of climate change to our natural and built environment, Associated Engineering now offers expertise in assessing climate change impacts on all our projects. Climate Science & Modelling Specialist, Jeremy Fyke, answers some Frequently Asked Questions on climate change.

The climate is changing. World leaders have, for the most part, accepted this fact and are committed to working together to stem rising global temperatures. In November 2015, 195 countries, including Canada, signed the Paris Agreement, pledging to cut emissions by 30% from 2005 levels by the year 2030.

Health and safety is about risk management which, as engineers, we assess as part of our work on a daily basis. We should look at it through the same lens, and it should be part of our normal way of work and life.

Recent extreme floods and associated infrastructure and environmental damage have demonstrated the need to consider the impact of the changing climate on all our projects. At Associated, during the design and construction of roadways and associated infrastructure, we consider two strategies: adaptation and mitigation.

Most projects, especially multi-discipline projects, involve a number of stakeholders, including the client with its departments and user groups, community groups, authorities having jurisdiction, the general public, and of course the design team. On projects large or small, there is generally a lot of background information to review: planning documents, project definition reports, programming documents, user requirements, reports, and site information, for example.