When worsening climate conditions overwhelm the tolerance of essential infrastructure, from energy and water, to transportation and housing, entire systems may collapse.
Disruption in one part of a system can cause the whole to malfunction, leaving people and organizations without what they need, and due to cascading effects, infrastructure meltdowns can impact distant locations, months or even years after a shock.

All critical infrastructure is vulnerable to climate-related shocks and trends, especially if located in floodplains and other areas prone to natural hazards. Systems can be built to withstand climate shocks or extreme weather events, but a lack of maintenance, poor design decisions, or decisions to overburden infrastructure, often resulting from short-sighted investment often leads to vulnerabilities.

Beyond designing new infrastructure with resilience in mind, governments can also invest in climate-smart retrofitting of existing infrastructure. Risks can also be reduced with the aid of considered contingency plans and through the nurturing of thriving, resilient communities that care for their most vulnerable members.

Every player must add 1 Community in Crisis per Temperature Band.

Players can reduce this effect by 1 for each Infrastructure Resilience token in their player board.

For example: 5 Temperature Bands – 3 Infrastructure Resilience = add 2 Communities in Crisis.

Resilience tokens are not discarded.

• Infrastructure Breaks Under Extreme Heat (BSR)

• How to Prevent Another European Transport Meltdown (WIRED)

• Support climate-smart infrastructure investments.

• Consider household and community options that help satisfy basic needs even under collapsed infrastructure.

• In times of meltdown, offer to support those most in need.