During 2007, Transportation Professional has published four technical papers produced and peer reviewed by the IHT Transport Policy Board, to highlight key issues facing the profession due to changes observed in the global climate. These papers were produced against the background of the Stern and Eddington Reports. More recently, we have had publication of the CfIT’s (Commission for Integrated Transport) Report on Transport & Climate Change, which identifies five packages of measures to deliver additional carbon savings from transport by 2020. All of these publications and papers emphasise that society is being significantly affected by the impacts of traffic. The purpose of this paper is to review the issues being raised and to prompt readers to question attitudes and responses to an increasing local and global problem.

In the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of Transportation Professional, Phil Sivell stated: ‘it will not be the changes in average condition that will test our infrastructure – it will be the extremes.’ The relevance of this statement became very apparent this summer when large areas of the British Isles suffered very heavy and persistent rainfall resulting in severe flooding and disruption to transport infrastructure and services.
    In June, Richard Turner and Kit Mitchell emphasised the importance of freight transport to the UK economy, but highlighted issues such as safety and the growth in fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions from road traffic. They noted: ‘The growth of van traffic in particular means that goods vehicles are the source of most of the CO² increase.’ While improved driving techniques, fuel

technologies and transport logistics have reduced the rate of growth of emissions,
further reduction will be hard to achieve.
   Sue Philbin, in July/August, reviewed projects being undertaken to reduce CO2 emissions in the UK and concluded: “It is now down to our profession, our society and each individual to respond by changing the way we think about mobility and by making informed travel choices.”
    Derek Palmer investigated the future for cars and personal transport in September. He highlighted that transport accounts for around 30% of total UK energy use (mainly oil) and around 25% of UK carbon emissions. Mr Palmer concludes that demand for travel will continue to rise and that transportation will remain a complex issue affecting the whole population, which will be faced with new technologies and greater pressure to adapt lifestyles.

Not everyone agrees with the view that we are experiencing climate change or global warming and transport may not be the single largest source of emissions in the UK. Although it is accepted that transport produces around 30% of all carbon

emissions in the UK, studies by the UN’s
Food & Agriculture Organisation state that livestock farming accounts for more green house gas emissions than transport.
    Professor Richard Lindzen, Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, points out that global records of temperatures have only been gathered from weather balloons since 1958. He, with others, suggests that forecasters have ignored historical accounts indicating that Europe was much warmer in the Middle Ages than today, or that the 17th century was much colder, prompting what was known as “The Little Ice Age” when the River Thames was often frozen over.

Modern times have seen the global market expand to encompass most perishable goods as transportation technology created the ‘global village’. Our supermarkets offer cut flowers and fresh fruit throughout the year and strawberries and cream are no longer just available at Wimbledon and summer graduations – you can have them as an alternative to Christmas pudding!