ColumbiaClimateSchool:"Climate change is making travel that much harder." Railroad tracks are designed to operate within a wide range of temperatures, but if temperatures exceed this range, tracks can become misaligned or buckle into what are called “sun kinks.” In the U.S. alone, over the last 40 years, sun kinks in the U.S. caused more than 2,100 derailments. To lessen the stress on track infrastructure, trains can be shortened, carry less weight, or maintain slower speeds. None of which is happy news for railroads. "A 2019 study projected that by 2100, delays due to temperature could cost the U.S. rail system as much as $60 billion cumulatively." Overhead wires powering electric trains can also be adversely affected by extremes of temperature or wind. "High temperatures can make wires expand and droop, damaging the overhead equipment...freezing temperatures with ice can weigh down wires, causing them to sag or fail." Much of the U.S. rail system is over a century old [much like our grid]. "When rail lines were designed, civil engineers used old construction standards. Moreover, they were designed using probabilistic estimates of rainfall intensities, most of which were from the 1960s and 1970s. Thus, with the chaotically changing weather leaving tracks at greater risk of flloding + landslides, I could tell you to fasten your seat belt if you're planning a trip by rail, but gee, they don't come equipped that way. As for the photo, looks almost hallucinatory, but this is not AI.
