What Makes a Catastrophic Flood?

Floods cause billions of dollars in damage each year.

Flood risks are expected to increase due to socio-economic development, subsidence, and climate change. Due to climate change, sea level will rise, and in many regions storm surge will occur more frequently. Rainfall will also intensify and occur more often.

Earth's climate will change due to both natural and anthropogenic processes. Scenarios are a useful way to describe these changes.

Physical scenarios (e.g. temperature rise) and scenarios for socio-economic development (e.g. population and economic growth, urbanisation) will challenge climate adaptation and mitigation.

Scenario analyses are instrumental in imagining and grasping a range of future circumstances, some of which may pose challenges. Scenarios facilitate discussions about how to proceed given the uncertainties of climate change.