SPECIAL REPORT: SUSTAINABILITY
Wide ranging impacts What it discovered was that increasing global temperatures throughout the 21st century will result in a number of challenges for airports. The distribution of snow and frost across Europe will change. In fact,
in some areas it will mean it is not necessary, or at least economically viable, to maintain snow clearance equipment. Some airports, however, may experience more marginal conditions and more disruption caused by snow and ice when it does occur. The lift an aircraft generates is directly related to temperature. So,
on the hottest days there is likely to be a reduction in the number of airports with long enough runways to take very large aircraft at the height of summer. Changes in the long-term average location of the jet stream — which
drives much of the weather over Europe — could lead changes in wind circulation patterns. These could result in an increase in the incidence of crosswinds; a concern for runways built along the historical prevailing wind direction. As the atmosphere warms up it has the potential to hold more
water. This and an increase in energy is likely to result in increased convective activity and the aviation industry could find itself facing increases in the magnitude or frequency of severe storms — a major disruption to flight paths. Drought is likely to prove an increasing stress in the Mediterranean
which, combined with possible increases in heavy rainfall events, may lead to an increase in the number of flash floods affecting airport operations and possibly even energy supply. Conversely, if higher temperatures cause water shortages or rationing,
airport operators will need to keep a close eye on their water supplies, just to stay in operation. Without water, an airport simply cannot run. However, it is not only flooding from rainfall that may be an issue.
Rising seas Globally the rate of sea level rise has increased significantly since the 19th century and there is high confidence that these rates will continue to rise. The study highlighted almost 40 major international airports at risk from projected sea level rise, due to their positions on coasts, artificial or reclaimed land stretching out to sea or on floodplains.
40 AIRPORT WORLD/AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2010
This number is known to be an underestimate of those at risk as
many smaller, but logistically or regionally important airports, are situated in similar locations and are likely to have fewer resources and strategies in place to deal with sea level rise. Due to lengthy mixing processes in the oceans, sea levels will
continue to rise even as emissions are cut back, making it imperative that airports and airport planners adapt to and mitigate rising water levels.
Future changes To help airports prepare, the Met Office has developed a tool called MORSE (the Met Office Relative SEa level tool). This uses a series of climate model runs, alongside information on vertical land movement and digital terrain data from NASA to visualise, for any airport of interest in the world, the hazard posed by potential sea level rise. As part of the sustainable development work commissioned by
Eurocontrol, MORSE was used to further define the potential sea level rise hazard faced by three of the 40 major international airports readily identified as being at significant risk level. Two of these are privately-owned and listed on international stock markets and the other is currently state-owned and operated. A team of researchers visited each airport and discussed existing
adaptation measures with representatives of the airport authority. In all three cases the results identified not only the need for substantial preventative measures by the end of the century, but that it is also possible that impacts of sea level rise may be felt much earlier than that. With progressive sea level rise and increased incidence and severity of
storm surges, the likelihood of significant coastal flooding around Europe by the middle of the century shows the need for action to be considered within more immediate planning horizons. The study shows that there is a clear need for all airports to assess the
hazard that sea level rise poses to their operations and designing appropriate adaptation strategies to ensure future operational capacity. The aviation industry is also benefiting from expert, impartial advice
and in-depth understanding of the science behind the climate from Met Office scientists. It’s this understanding that really helps the aviation industry explore what to expect from weather conditions in the future — and how best to face them.
AW
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88