Loss and damage databases are essential tools within the disaster risk management cycle for making informed decisions. However, even in data-rich countries such as Austria, no consistent and curated multi-hazard database is available. Based on the requirements of the United Nations, the European Union, as well as on national demands to deal with disaster impacts, we conceived and set up a demonstrator for a consistent multi-hazard national event-based loss and damage database that addresses event identification, loss accounting and disaster forensics according to international standards. We built our database on already existing data from administration and federal agencies and formulated a process to combine those data in a synergetic way. Furthermore, we tested how earth observation and weather data could help to derive more robust disaster event information. Our demonstrator focuses on two Austrian federal provinces, three hazard types—floods, storms and mass movements—and the period between 2005 and 2018. By analyzing over 140.000 single event descriptions, we conclude that—despite some limitations in retrospective data harmonization—the implementation of a curated event-based national loss and damage database is feasible and adds significant value compared to the usage of single national datasets or existing international databases such as EM-DAT or the Risk Data Hub. With our demonstrator, we are able to support the national risk assessment, the national Sendai Monitoring and federal disaster risk management with the provision of best possible harmonized loss and damage information, tailored indicators and statistics as well as hazard impact maps on the municipality scale.
It is well known that global temperatures have risen by about 1°C since the second half of the 19th century and that the major part of global warming experienced since the mid-20th century is due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The transportation sector contributes approximately 30% of the GHG emissions released in the European Union (EU) and is a significant driver of climate change. Therefore, most discussions and initiatives regarding transportation have been geared toward mitigation (reducing GHG emissions). However, transportation is exposed to climate change impacts at the same time. Since climate change will continue to unfold in the coming decades, mitigation alone is not enough to provide protection, and adaptation efforts will also be needed. Extreme weather events, which are expected to occur more frequently and violently in the wake of climate change over the decades to come, pose a considerable challenge to the resilience, reliability, and safety of transportation systems. It has become obvious that these challenges cannot be met with mitigation (reduction of GHG emissions) alone but have to be addressed by suitable adaptation measures. Appropriate actions will help to reduce the risk of bad investments and damage to transport infrastructure, and their identification is not trivial because of the often long lifespan (many decades) of infrastructure and the uncertainty involved in forecasting the extent of climate change’s impacts over long periods of time. It is therefore crucial to incorporate into transportation planning the design of appropriate measures for adaptation to the impact of climate change. However, for some reason (so-called barriers to adaptation), adaptation has rarely been adopted by stakeholders. The barriers include, for example, insufficient understanding of climate-related hazards and the vulnerability of the transport system to them; the lack of appropriate procedures; the lack of perception of the urgency; the impression that there is no need for a forward-looking, proactive integration of adaptation strategies into transport planning; the perception that the uncertainties are too great for adaptation planning; and budget challenges. Results of a survey among stakeholders in transportation—conducted in order to establish land transportation as the World Meteorological Organization’s new Service Delivery Target—revealed that stakeholders’ reluctance to implement the design of adaptation strategies into transportation planning, which was quite pronounced only a few years ago, has given way to general acceptance. The transport sector has a dual role—on the one hand, as a major driver of climate change, and on the other hand, as a sector vulnerable to climate change impacts. The consequences of climate change for transportation and the strategies for dealing with them by mitigation and adaptation are paramount. Mitigation and adaptation complement each other in attaining optimal protection of transportation against climate change’s impacts. Finally, the implementation of appropriate adaptation strategies needs to support decision makers in the design of forward-looking strategies that enhance the sustainability of infrastructure. An example of such implementation has occurred in the complex terrain of the European Alps.
<p><span lang="EN-US">Floodings are amongst the most devastating damage-processes worldwide. Along with the increase in climate change induced extreme events, research devoted to the identification of so-called Climate Indices (CIs) describing weather phenomena triggering hazard-occurrences gains rising emphasis. CIs have a wide potential for further investigation in both research and application as e.g. in public protection and the transport and logistic industry. The appearance of specific CIs in regional climate models (i.e., &#8216;hazard development corridors&#8217;) can serve as an input in decision-theoretic concepts aiming to sustain current safety levels in climate change induced altering risk landscapes (Matulla et al, submitted). Enigl et al, 2019 first objectively derived hazard-triggering precipitation totals for six process-categories and three climatologically as well as geomorphologically distinct regions in the Austrian part of the European Alps.&#160; This study aims at investigating a slightly different methodological approach for the objective determination of Climate Indices in the catchment area of the River Danube in Austria depending on catchment areas. </span></p>
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