2017 forensic review of global warming by scientists and engineers (free to read editorial summary).

What is it about?

Civil engineers used to boast that they controlled the natural environment. Society needs engineers to prepare a robust and resilient infrastructure for a rapidly changing world. The forensic approach is to use Briefing Papers to quiz world class scientists on the current and future conditions in a manner achieved in few journals and to then assess the risks. Technical papers then provide new perspectives on infrastructure such as the electricity supply, scour to bridges, healing washout of water channels and designing for hurricanes.

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Why is it important?

This second 2017 forensic review of climate change confirms the worst fears from the 2015 review. Society hopes that risks are low, but it should be clear to technical engineers that they need to assess the new risks associated with the carbon footprint of each project and the range of potential climate conditions. The evidence is clear that extinction and genocide can be expected unless drastic action is taken. This would leave most engineers and companies vulnerable to liabilities for failing to address the risks.

Perspectives