Flood means the temporary covering by water of land not normally convered by water ( 2007/60 EC). There are various flood types, which differs regarding to the water source (e.g. rainwater, groundwater, stream water) their duration (short (minutes to hours) or long (weeks to months)) or to their location (e.g. coastal floods). One possible classification of flood types is listed below: Flash ...
The utility of the concept of resiliency as a paradigm for managing society's ability to resist, absorb, and recover from extreme events is dependent upon the ability to evaluate a community's resilience and to assess the potential impacts of intentional and unintentional interventions. A framework for developing and using resilience metrics is presented. The critical components of resilience for ...
Scientists at the NOC and the University of Southampton have found that the majority of instances of coastal flooding around the United Kingdom in the last 100 years have been due to moderate storm events combined with high spring tides, rather than extreme storms. Researchers have undertaken one of the most detailed assessments of extreme sea level and coastal flooding ever carried out ...
This was the message of Mayor Will Sessoms from Virginia Beach, VA, delivered last Friday at a conference on “Adaptive Planning for Flooding and Coastal Change.” Like so many cities along the Atlantic coast, Virginia Beach is at the frontlines of climate change, experiencing ...
Extreme weather events are on the rise in the United States and globally, with growing and costly disruptions to businesses, people’s livelihoods, and critical infrastructure. Hurricane Sandy is the most recent event to expose the vulnerability of the United States to extreme weather. This fact sheet highlights the historical magnitude of the storm and estimated losses, plus statements by ...
The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region has experienced rapid economic and population growth in the last three decades. The delta includes coastal megacities, such as Hong Kong. These low-lying urbanised coastal regions in the PRD are vulnerable to flood risks from unpredictable climatic conditions. These can result in increasing storm surges, rising sea level and intensified rainstorms causing ...
There has been a rapid growth in the field of remote sensing and its various applications in the area of water management. Nowadays, there are several remote sensing techniques that can be used as a source to derive bathymetry data along coastal areas. The key techniques are: sonar (sound navigating and ranging), LiDAR (light detection and ranging) and high-resolution satellite images. The ...
A simple relationship between sea level rise and the massive potential costs of future coastal flooding has been established by scientists in Germany. As sea levels rise, the damage to human economies rises even faster. And as sea levels rose by an estimated 14cms in the last century, and could rise by up to 130cms ...
Coastal wetlands provide a large number of critical functions that benefit the surrounding ecosystems and the neighboring human population centers. Coastal flood plains and wetlands help prevent the flooding and destruction of coastal communities by storm surges, acting as a natural buffer to protect communities near the coast. The bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) is one of the dominant tree ...
Over the past century, sea level has risen nearly eight inches along the California coast, and general circulation model scenarios suggest very substantial increases in sea level as a significant impact of climate change over the coming century. This study includes a detailed analysis of the current population, infrastructure, and property at risk from projected sealevel rise if no actions are ...
This study aims to assess the vulnerability of populations to storm surge flooding in 12 coastal localities of Virginia, U.S.A. Population vulnerability is assessed by way of three physical factors (elevation, slope, and storm surge category), three built‐up components (road availability, access to hospitals, and access to shelters), and three household conditions (storm preparedness, ...
Climate change, interacting with changes in land use and demographics, will affect important human dimensions in the United States, especially those related to human health, settlements and welfare. The challenges presented by population growth, an aging population, migration patterns, and urban and coastal development will be compounded by changes in temperature, precipitation, and extreme ...
In Semarang urban coastal areas experience daily flooding from the sea during high tide (tidal flooding). Flourishing residential areas have changed into unhealthy slums with the nuisance of daily flooding in parts of the city. To overcome these problems a polder system was implemented to address the tidal flooding. The Semarang polder system is the first fully operational polder system in a ...
Flood attributes such as the water level may depend on multiple forcing variables that arise from common meteorological conditions. To correctly estimate flood risk in these situations, it is necessary to account for the joint probability distribution of all the relevant forcing variables. An example of a joint probability approach is the design variable method, which focuses on the extremes of ...
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have a significant role in urban systems’ serviceability. These infrastructures, especially in coastal regions, are vulnerable to flooding. To minimize vulnerability, a better understanding of flood risk must be realized. To quantify the extent of efforts for flood risk management, a unified index is needed for evaluating resiliency as a key concept in ...
As extreme weather events like wildfires, heat waves, downpours, and droughts continue to make headlines in the United States and around the world, many have wondered what their connection is to climate change. A new report sheds some light, firmly drawing correlations between several extreme weather events in ...
The Environment Agency is the principal flood risk management operating authority. It has the power (but not the legal obligation) to manage flood risk from designated main rivers and the sea. These functions in relation to other rivers (defined as ...
Ecosystems provide businesses with numerous benefits or “ecosystem services.” Forests supply timber and wood fiber, purify water, regulate climate, and yield genetic resources. River systems provide freshwater, power, and recreation. Coastal wetlands filter waste, mitigate floods, and serve as nurseries for commercial fisheries. However, human activities are rapidly degrading these and other ...
News of California’s epic drought continues to reverberate around the nation. Not only have millions of Californians been cut off from their usual water supply, but the drought is threatening the state’s multi-billion-dollar agriculture and tourism industries. To learn about the ...
More and more companies are recognizing and reporting on actions they’re taking to “mitigate” climate change, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through energy efficiency, renewable power, and cleaner vehicles. Now, businesses are finding they’ll also ...