Floods, On the Rise!
Climate change involves the average temperature of the globe on the rise. With this, comes a dysfunction in many natural processes. One of these is with the water cycle. With warmer temperatures, the snow caps are melting, increasing the amount of water in the earth’s oceans. There is also an increase in volume due to the warming of the water, causing it to expand. The incidence of extreme precipitation and floods is on the rise and is predicted to worsen in connection with climate change 1.
Cities are also being developed around waterways, where the amount of water flowing in and out of major areas is being controlled by human architecture. Although the levels are generally controlled, the retention capacity of these bodies of water will not be enough to maintain proper flow during events of extreme precipitation 2.
Flood events from glacial melting is becoming an increasingly common issue. So much so, that glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF’s) are on the rise. These have devastating impacts on the communities down stream. Although appearing to have slowed down since 1970, GLOF’s are expected to rise in unison with climate change due to the magnitude of shift that is expected 3.
Here are some flooding and GLOF’s in the news.
1) https://www.wyomingnewsnow.tv/news/national/im-out-of-here-french-town-waits-for-flood-to-recede/article_93099462-eb42-5913-91d8-f97fef9af53e.html
2) https://globalnews.ca/news/10629751/long-lasting-floods-follow-record-breaking-rainfall-in-london-ont/
3) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-30/new-zealand-plans-to-create-framework-for-climate-adaptation
4) https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/massive-himalayan-flood-a-warning-for-western-canada-as-glaciers-melt/
References:
1) Tabari H. 2020. Climate change impact on flood and extreme precipitation increases with water availability. Scientific Reports. 10(1):13768. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70816-2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-70816-2.
2) Bronstert A. 2003. Floods and Climate Change: Interactions and Impacts. Risk Analysis. 23(3):545–557. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/1539-6924.00335.
3) Harrison S, Kargel JS, Huggel C, Reynolds J, Shugar DH, Betts RA, Emmer A, Glasser N, Haritashya U.K, Klimeš J, et al. 2018. Climate change and the global pattern of moraine-dammed glacial lake outburst floods. The Cryosphere. 12(4):1195–1209. doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1195-2018. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1063&context=geo_fac_pub.