The stationarity myth: How a changing climate alters the paradigms of infrastructure design and maintenance

This chapter discusses how and why climate is changing; which types of extreme events are being impacted by these changes; what the future may hold; and how these changes will alter risks and impacts to infrastructure. It describes key resources that provide information on changing climatic conditions and summarizes the uncertainties inherent to the analyses. Successful adaptation incorporates the concept of non-stationarity into every relevant aspect of planning, design, and management, in order to build resilience to naturally occurring risks that are enhanced or amplified by a changing climate. Some types of infrastructure can be vulnerable to changes in average annual or seasonal temperature, particularly when the trends are moderated by local factors that can amplify the global trend. A significant proportion of hard infrastructure in the Arctic and sub-Arctic is built on the assumption of frozen ground. Coastal zones are home to large oil and gas refineries and processing facilities, and service infrastructure related to water, health and telecommunications.