Most U.S. infrastructure was built decades ago and therefore designed for a climate that no longer exists. Sectors with the worst grades from the American Society of Civil Engineers include airports, power and telecommunications infrastructure. There is a $3.7 trillion spending gap over the next 10 years to get U.S. infrastructure to a state of good condition, according to the ASCE.
U.S. infrastructure is barely getting a passing grade, and one of the fastest growing problems is climate change. Airports are flooding, bridges are melting from extreme heat, and telecommunications are getting slammed by increasingly extreme weather.
In 2023, at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, historic rainfall turned runways into rivers, shutting down operations and stranding passengers. In New York City last summer, extreme heat caused metal on a bridge over the Harlem