Is Our Infrastructure Ready For Rising Temperatures? 416
Hugh Pickens writes "Megan Garber writes that last weekend, a US Airways flight taxiing for takeoff from Washington's Reagan National Airport got stuck on the tarmac for three hours because the tarmac had softened from the heat, and the plane had created — and then sunk into — a groove from which it couldn't, at first, be removed. So what makes an asphalt tarmac, the foundation of our mighty air network, turn to sponge? The answer is that our most common airport surface might not be fully suited to its new, excessively heated environment. One of asphalt's main selling points is precisely the fact that, because of its pitchy components, it's not quite solid: It's 'viscoelastic,' which makes it an ideal surface for the airport environment. As a solid, asphalt is sturdy; as a substance that can be made from — and transitioned back to — liquid, it's relatively easy to work with. And, crucially, it makes for runway repair work that is relatively efficient. But those selling points can also be asphalt's Achilles heel. Viscoelasticity means that the asphalt is always capable of liquefying. The problem, for National Airport's tarmac and the passengers who were stuck on it, was that this weekend's 100+-degree temperatures were a little less room temperature-like than they'd normally be, making the asphalt a little less solid that it would normally be. 'As ironic and as funny as the imgur seen round the world is, it may also be a hint at what's in store for us in a future of weirding weather. An aircraft sinking augurs the new challenges we'll face as temperatures keep rising.'"
Not a problem in Montreal (Score:4, Funny)
Vehicules get stuck in potholes long before asphalt even has a chance to melt
"...in a future of weirding weather." (Score:5, Funny)
Stand back! This weather has the weirding way!
Pffft, global warming. (Score:2, Funny)
Who cares about climate change. Excessive ecological regulation just harms Legitimate Business Interests, right?
(In other news, the forecast this week is schadenfreude with localized told-you-so.)
Re:Average temperature a few degrees higher (Score:4, Funny)
Re:It's never been over 100 in DC before? (Score:5, Funny)
this has nothing to do with global warming and everything to do with the expansion of the federal government.
Also, Drudge is reporting that the airplane was discovered to be a closet liberal, faking the whole thing to boost the whole fake AGW thing.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Nope. (Score:5, Funny)
[snip flame war]
Remember the good ol' days, when polite folk talked about the weather because politics or religion might lead to an argument?
[maybe it's all the flame wars that's causing all the hot]