Climate change is an inconvenient yet inescapable truth everyone must face. Some effects of global warming are irreversible for hundreds or thousands of years, so whatever the future holds will be the norm for a long time.
Engineers, architects and builders can design and construct affordable new buildings that can resist tornadoes, floods and wildfires without making the buildings into bunkers. We could also design earthquake-resilient buildings, but do not.
Americans recently received a sobering reminder that the world has changed forever. That fact has far-reaching implications for the industries that build our cities, towns and the systems that sustain our way of life.