Flood risk from climate change underestimated
Thu, Aug 30, 2007
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For the thousands of people whose homes were damaged in the widespread flooding in the UK this summer, it may seem like a joke. But scientists have announced that climate change may carry an even higher risk of flooding than was first thought.
A new model produced by the Met Office’s Hadley Centre has shown that current estimates of increases in water levels fall short, due to a failure to acknowledge the effect of carbon dioxide on vegetation. As part of the process of photosynthesis through which they make their energy, plants absorb water from the ground through their roots and exhale it into the air from their leaves as water vapour. However, higher levels of CO2 inhibit their ability to do this, which will result in less water being transferred from the ground to the air. Soil is likely to become waterlogged and flooding exacerbated. Richard Betts, the scientist behind the research, commented that “current impact assessments will need to be reworked.” The results, published in journal Nature today, predict that climate change and its effect on plants will cause river flow to increase by 13% over the next 300 years unless CO2 emissions are reduced.
This news comes as the UK is struggling to resume normal service after floods devastated building and businesses across the country. The Association of British Insurers has said the total bill for the UK floods in June and July could reach £2bn. Different counties are experiencing problems as they try to refurbish affected buildings and roads, house those who have been made homeless and recover from subsequent losses to tourism and the leisure industry. Gloucestershire county council, for instance, estimates that necessary repairs to damaged roads alone will cost £25m, an entire year’s highways budget.
Following the floods, the Environment Agency’s chief executive Baroness Young said that about £1bn a year was needed to improve flood defences, and in July Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged an £800 million rise in annual spending on flood protection by 2010-11. This study implies that the cost of protecting
Britain effectively may be even higher.
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University Update - Gordon Brown - Flood risk from climate change underestimated Says:
August 30th, 2007 at 9:41 pm[...] Clark Flood risk from climate change underestimated » This Summary is from an article posted at Environmentalgraffiti.com on Thursday, August 30, 2007 [...]
October 19th, 2009 at 4:24 am
Climate change was the topic of BloG AcTioN Day last October 15, 2009. As you surf the internet today, you will still see so many articles about global warming. People are really affected now. So i guess, this post has been very timely. Let me share my own calamitous story – About three weeks ago, we were hit by two very strong storms. We never had that in decades. They left our country with still so many flooded areas, a lot were homeless and lost so many loved ones. Until now, we are still sweeping the streets from mud and tons of ruined appliances drowned from the flood. The effects of those twin storm were devastating. It’s not wet season for us here, but we we were informed that we are still expecting four more storms on this last quarter of the year. And just this morning, local news says, weeks from now, we are expecting a strong earthquake to hit the metro city including the nearby provinces. This is the same Metro city hit by the twin storms. And the news says its all because of global warming/climate change. I’m blithely about the issue before, but when the twin storm hit us plus all the bad news, I thought, I must do something too. To solve the global warming problem, it must be stormed at the national and international levels.But the total success is built upon the action of every individual, regardless of nationality, to conserve energy and live in a greener, cleaner community.