When the temperature in New York City hit 95 degrees Fahrenheit earlier this week, it marked the hottest day of the year in the city so far. And that heat had an unexpected side effect: It caused the steel on the Third Avenue Bridge in the Bronx to swell, forcing the bridge to remain stuck in its open position and impeding road traffic during rush hour. It’s just one more way that extreme heat is affecting our daily lives, and another example of the impacts of climate change on infrastructure.
That bridge, which connects Manhattan to the Bronx, sometimes opens in order to let ships sailing along the Harlem River through. After it got stuck in that position, officials had to spray the bridge with water in an attempt to cool it down. The bridge got stuck around 4 p.m. and did not reopen to traffic until around 6:30 p.m…
When it comes to adapting to more intense summers, cities can look to places that have long had higher temperatures, says Clint Andrews, director of the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University. “Cities all over the world that lie closer to the equator than [New York] build infrastructure to a more heat-resistant standard,” he says. “We have to adapt ours in that direction, over time.”