People in Harm's Way: Flood Exposure and Poverty in 189 Countries

Rentschler, Jun; Salhab, Melda

doi:10.1596/1813-9450-9447

Cited by 76 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Relative to their total population, the urban population residing in the 1/100year floodplain varies substantially: 6.8 ± 2.6% for Asia, 8.0 ± 0.7 and 6.5 ± 2.2% for North and South America, 5.6±1.6% for Europe, 3.6±1.5% for Africa, and 3.8±0.2% for Oceania. The 2015 population in both urban and non-urban areas that is potentially exposed to a 1/100-year flood is 1.49 ± 0.03 billion, which is consistent with recent studies 24 .…”

supporting

confidence: 92%

Urbanizing the floodplain: Global changes of imperviousness in flood-prone areas

Andreadis¹,

Gleason²,

Colven³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Cities have historically developed close to rivers and coasts, increasing human exposure to flooding. That exposure is exacerbated by changes in climate and population, and by urban encroachment on floodplains. Although the mechanisms of how urbanization affects flooding are relatively well understood, there have been limited efforts to assess the magnitude of floodplain encroachment globally and how it has changed in both space and time. Highly resolved global datasets of both flood risk and changes in urban area from 1985-2015 are now available, enabling the reconstruction of the history of floodplain encroachment at high spatial resolutions. Here we show that the urbanized area in floodplains that have an average probability of flooding of 1/100 years, has almost doubled since 1985. Further, the rate of urban expansion into these floodplains increased by a factor of 1.5 after the year 2000. We also find that urbanization rates were highest in the most hazardous areas of floodplains, with population growth in these urban floodplains suggesting an accompanying increase in population density. These results reveal the scope, trajectory and extent of global floodplain encroachment. With tangible implications for flood risk management, these data can be directly used with integrated models to assess adaptation pathways for urban flooding.

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supporting

confidence: 92%

Urbanizing the floodplain: Global changes of imperviousness in flood-prone areas

Andreadis¹,

Gleason²,

Colven³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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show abstract

“…In less developed countries, a key role in adaptation to climate change is played by NGO's and by humanitarian/ environmentalist groups. Many of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, where 55% of the population lives in both extreme poverty and high flood risk [1] and 5% live in areas where droughts have catastrophic impacts on cropland. Even if this percentage may sound small, it means that 50 million people live in severely water-constrained agricultural areas [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even if this percentage may sound small, it means that 50 million people live in severely water-constrained agricultural areas [2]. In particular, Mozambique is one of the 10 countries with the largest number of poor people exposed to significant flood risk [1]. In the last years, tropical cyclones have affected the country, causing large flooded areas and hitting the population and activities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flood Mitigation Measure and Water Storage in East Africa: An Analysis for the Rio Muaguide, Mozambique

Rrokaj

Corti

Giovannini³

et al. 2021

Hydrology

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In the last century, floods have been more frequently hitting population and human activity, especially in the sub-Saharan context. The aim of this study is to propose suitable flood mitigation measures for the downstream part of the Rio Muaguide, which flows in northern Mozambique. In this terminal part of the river, the bed has been buried by sediment in many reaches; due to the reduction of the section conveyance, wide areas are inundated during the rainy season with negative consequences for several villages relying on subsistence agriculture. The design of any measure requires quantitative determinations but, as many less developed countries, Mozambique is affected by data scarcity. Therefore, in this study global and freely available data have been used to perform hydrologic and two-dimensional hydro-dynamic modelling, finally producing a flood hazard map. Particular care has been put into a critical analysis of several data sources, in terms of their suitability for the purposes of the work. Based on the modelling results and on field evidence, an intervention has been proposed with a double functionality of mitigating the effects of periodic floods and storing water to be used by the agricultural community during drier seasons. The proposed intervention combines restoring a sedimentation-less shape of the river sections and exploiting a natural basin as a storage basin. The methods applied and the intervention proposed for the Rio Muaguide are prototypal for several analogous streams in the coastal portion of Mozambique.

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“…Environmental extreme events (e.g., heat waves, droughts, snowmelts, floods) occur as a long-or short-term phenomenon, producing a complex web of direct and indirect impacts on various (e.g., economic, environmental and social) sectors of life. In recent decades, globally, the average annual count of people affected by drought and flood events is estimated to be approximately 55 million and 1.4 billion, respectively 1,2 . Early forecast and warning of the possible extreme events could facilitate better preparation, possible evacuation and marshalling of emergency systems to mitigate environmental impacts associated with the systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Assessment of Spatiotemporal Variability of Wet, Normal and Dry Conditions using Multiscale Entropy-based Approach

Sreeparva

Srini

2021

Preprint

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In recent decades, human-induced climate change has caused a worldwide increase in the frequency/intensity/duration of extreme events, resulting in enormous disruptions to life and property. Hence, a comprehensive understanding of global-scale spatiotemporal trends and variability of extreme events at different intensity levels (e.g., moderate/severe/extreme) and durations (e.g., short-term/long-term) of normal, dry and wet conditions is essential in predicting/forecasting/mitigating future extreme events. This article analyses these aspects using estimates of a non-stationary standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index corresponding to different accumulation periods for 0.5˚ CRU resolution grids at globe-scale. Results are analyzed with respect to changes in land-use/landcover and location/geographic (latitude, longitude, elevation) indicators at different time scales (decadal/annual/seasonal/monthly) for each continent. The analysis showed an (i) increasing trend in the frequency/count of both dry and wet conditions and variability of dry conditions, and (ii) contrasting (decreasing) trend in the variability of wet conditions, possibly due to climate change-induced variations in atmospheric circulations. Globally, the highest variability in the wet and dry conditions is found during the Northern hemisphere's winter season. The decadal-scale analysis showed that change in variability in dry and wet conditions has been predominant from the 1930s and 1950s, respectively and is found to be increasing in recent decades.

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People in Harm's Way: Flood Exposure and Poverty in 189 Countries

Cited by 76 publications

References 20 publications

Urbanizing the floodplain: Global changes of imperviousness in flood-prone areas

Urbanizing the floodplain: Global changes of imperviousness in flood-prone areas

Flood Mitigation Measure and Water Storage in East Africa: An Analysis for the Rio Muaguide, Mozambique

Global Assessment of Spatiotemporal Variability of Wet, Normal and Dry Conditions using Multiscale Entropy-based Approach

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