Climate & Resilience Flashcards

Which of the following best describes 'infrastructure interdependencies' and why they matter for climate resilience planning?

Answer: The ways that failure in one infrastructure system can cascade to affect others (e.g., power outage disrupting water treatment)

Interdependency analysis identifies how disruption in one system (power, water, transport) can trigger failures in others, which is critical for resilience planning.

A project in a flood-prone area elevates critical equipment above the projected 500-year flood elevation plus a freeboard allowance. This design choice is an example of:

Answer: Proactive adaptation to reduce vulnerability to future climate hazards

Adding freeboard above regulatory minimums is a proactive adaptation strategy that reduces vulnerability to increasing flood intensities from climate change.

Which of the following metrics is most useful for quantifying a project's contribution to urban heat island (UHI) mitigation?

Answer: Surface albedo and green cover percentage

Surface albedo (reflectivity) and vegetated cover percentage directly measure the thermal properties that determine UHI contribution or mitigation.

In Envision, 'community resilience' extends infrastructure resilience by emphasizing:

Answer: The capacity of the broader social system — including people and institutions — to absorb, adapt, and recover from shocks

Community resilience recognizes that infrastructure resilience must be coupled with social, economic, and institutional capacity for the community to truly recover from disasters.

A project team identifies that a proposed bridge site is in a riverine floodplain projected to experience 20% higher peak flows by 2070 due to climate change. The most appropriate Envision-aligned response is to:

Answer: Adjust hydraulic design to accommodate projected future peak flows and maintain safety margins

Envision promotes designing to anticipated future conditions rather than historical baselines to ensure infrastructure remains functional across its design life.

Which term describes the process where infrastructure is designed to provide multiple benefits — such as a green roof that reduces stormwater runoff, lowers urban heat, AND sequesters carbon?

Answer: Multi-benefit design (or co-benefits approach)

Multi-benefit design, also called a co-benefits approach, maximizes value by ensuring infrastructure investments address multiple environmental and social goals simultaneously.

When an Envision project team performs a 'vulnerability assessment,' what is the primary output they are seeking?

Answer: An identification of critical assets, stressors, and the likelihood and consequence of system failure under hazard scenarios

A vulnerability assessment identifies which assets face which hazards, and evaluates the likelihood and consequences of failure to prioritize resilience investments.