Climate Change Could Snarl Travel Plans in Future

As if the notion of heat waves and rising sea levels weren't bad enough, climate change also has the potential to royally screw up your travel plans. A new report shows that increased flooding in coastal areas could put a serious kink in road and rail travel, not to mention washing out the occasional bridge. And hotter days will make it tougher for airplanes to take off with their usual payload, which could cause major headaches, reports a Newsweek science blog.

“If runways are not sufficiently long for large aircraft to build up enough speed to generate lift, aircraft weight must be reduced or some flights canceled altogether," says the new National Research Council report on transportation. Also on the agenda: more 24-hour rainstorms that can cut off all transportation in a region for days. (More climate change stories.)