Water Cycle Is Intensifying as Climate Warms
The world watched in July 2021 as extreme rainfall became floods that washed away centuries-old homes in Europe, triggered landslides in Asia and inundated subways in China. More than 900…
Flood Risk
Flood Risk
How Does a Flood Become a Disaster?
What are the causes, patterns and effects of disastrous river flood? An international group of researchers led by GFZ hydrologist Bruno Merz has investigated this question in a review article…
Flood Risk Will Rise as Climate Heat Intensifies
In a world of climate change, the flood risk will be more intense and more frequent, presenting higher danger to ever more people in a greater number of countries. In…
Water-Related Hazards Dominate Disasters in the Past 50 Years
Water-related hazards dominate the list of disasters in terms of both the human and economic toll over the past 50 years, according to a comprehensive analysis by the World Meteorological…
BlackBerry Launches Flood Risk Monitoring Solution
BlackBerry Limited has announced a first-of-its-kind flood risk and clean water monitoring solution. Based on BlackBerry® AtHoc®, a critical event management platform, the innovative technology provides autonomous year-round monitoring and…
How Summer 2021 Has Changed Our Understanding of Extreme Weather
A succession of record-breaking natural disasters have swept the globe in recent weeks. There have been serious floods in China and western Europe, heatwaves and drought in North America and…
South East Asia – Mekong River Levels Rise After 40% Higher Rainfall
Recorded water levels in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) saw significant increases during the last seven days as a result of heavy rainfall and sudden water releases from dams,…
Germany Floods: Can We Tell if Extreme Weather Is Linked to Climate Change?
More than 100 people have died and at least 1,000 are missing following floods in Germany and Belgium that swept away buildings, cut phone communications and forced thousands to flee…
Global Evidence Links Rise in Extreme Precipitation to Human-Driven Climate Change
Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels for transportation and electricity, have worsened the intensity of extreme rainfall and snowfall over land in recent decades, not just in a few…
Projections of US High-Tide Flooding Show Rapid Increases and Extreme Months
In the mid-2030s, multiple United States coastal regions may see rapid increases in the number of high-tide flooding (HTF) days, according to a study led by the University of Hawai’i…
Pakistan Slum Dwellers Map Flood Risks to Stop Evictions
April 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Slum dwellers in the Pakistani city of Karachi have stopped the demolition of thousands of homes by mapping flood risks from clogged drains, offering…
Model Predicts Urban Development and Greenhouses Gasses Will Fuel Urban Floods
When rain began falling in northern Georgia on Sept. 15, 2009, little did Atlantans know that they would bear witness to epic flooding throughout the city. Neighborhoods, like Peachtree Hills,…
Breaking Waves and Moisture Transport Drive Extreme Precipitation Events
Around the world each year, extreme precipitation events cause catastrophic flooding that results in tragic loss of life and costly damage to infrastructure and property. However, a variety of different…
Sea Level Rise Up to Four Times Global Average for Coastal Communities
Coastal populations are experiencing relative sea-level rise up to four times faster than the global average – according to new research from the University of East Anglia. A new study…
Going Under? Brazil’s Hospitals at Risk as Climate Change Brings More Floods
SAO PAULO, March 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Last December, when physician Victor Heitor Gomes became health director for Rafard, a municipality 150 km northwest of São Paulo, he knew…
Global Warming Causing Flood Risk in Peruvian Andes and Other Glacial Lakes Says Study
As the planet warms, glaciers are retreating and causing changes in the world’s mountain water systems. For the first time, scientists at the University of Oxford and the University of…
