Climate change and how it will impact road weather
Lauryna Sidlauskaite talks about the challenges of winter road weather forecasts in view of climate change.
Length: 39 minutes.
Climate change is almost literally the "hot" topic of today. Scientists agree that cars with combustion engines are one of the main sources of greenhouse gasses, however, with such vastly growing world economy, transportation of goods and people is essential. Thus, certain measures must be and are being made to reduce their negative effect on climate.
Humanity has reached a point in time, when even if greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced to pre-industrial times it will not stop the human-induced climate change and the effects of it will be felt for decades or even centuries to come. Therefore, we’re compelled to know and understand what to expect from road weather, especially in winter seasons.
In this session, the problem of lack of specific climate forecasts for winter road weather will be discussed and future climate projections for road weather patterns will be presented with Lithuania as an example. The study in question involved regular climate forecasts for 21st century for several RCPs, downscaling of data to fit Lithuania and formation several statistical indices, that better describe road weather for road maintenance workers and road users. Using the indices allows a better understanding on what’s to come and how climate change will impact road weather in the 21st century.