Interdisciplinary Challenges in Deploying Forward Looking Climate Science for Engineering Based Climate Adaptation

As impacts from extreme weather events continue to increase, it has become clear that strengthening support for climate adaptation strategies is necessary to ensure our Nation’s prosperity and its ability to effectively rebound from weather and climate disasters. Nowhere is this more important than in engineering design of the built environment. The average person spends 90% of their time inside a building, and as climate impacts and billion-dollar weather disasters continue to grow, it is critical that we elevate the national discourse to support the use of forward-looking climate science into structural engineering design standards.

Nevertheless, there are myriad interdisciplinary technical, policy, and communication challenges to overcome. These obstacles are examined through a multidisciplinary lens and recommendations offered to ameliorate their impacts. Topics of discussion include: broad aspects of relevant national climate adaptation and disaster policy or lack thereof, the role of scientific advocacy in shaping priorities for the national response to climate change, technical issues in aligning the current capabilities of meteorology and climate science with the needs of those engaged in the development and implementation of national structural engineering design standards, and overcoming differences in practice across the engineering and climate science communities.