September 26, 2019

Hundred-Year Floods Becoming One-Year Floods

Listen Later

2 minutes

By definition, 100-year floods are intense flooding events that historically tend to happen once every 100 years. Put another way, a 100-year flood has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year.

According to new research published in the journal Nature

Communications, rising global temperatures may turn 100-year floods into

annual occurrences in parts of the United States. The increase in severe coastal flooding

events by the end of this century will be a result of rising sea levels and

stronger, more frequent tropical storms and hurricanes.

The study, led by researchers at Princeton University and MIT,

examined flood risk for 171 counties along the US East Coast and the Gulf of

Mexico. Their analysis concluded that

100-year floods will become annual events in New England. In the US Southeast and Gulf of Mexico,

counties could experience such floods as often as every year up to as seldom as

every 30 years.

Previously, most analysis of coastal flooding has looked only at the

impact of sea level rise on flood risk.

This new research combined the risk of rising seas with projected

changes in coastal storms over the course of this century. Data from the Gulf of Mexico revealed that

the effect of stronger storms is comparable with or even more significant than

the effect of sea level change for 40% of the counties studied. So, neglecting the effects of storm

climatology change is likely to significantly underestimate the impact of

climate change in many places.

The hope is that more comprehensive flood risk data can be used to

create more effective climate resiliency strategies all the way down to the

county level.

**********

Web Links

100-Year Floods Could Soon Happen Annually in Parts of U.S., Study Finds

Photo, posted August 31, 2017, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

...more

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Earth Wise

By Randy Simon

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September 26, 2019

Hundred-Year Floods Becoming One-Year Floods

Listen Later

2 minutes

By definition, 100-year floods are intense flooding events that historically tend to happen once every 100 years. Put another way, a 100-year flood has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year.

According to new research published in the journal Nature

Communications, rising global temperatures may turn 100-year floods into

annual occurrences in parts of the United States. The increase in severe coastal flooding

events by the end of this century will be a result of rising sea levels and

stronger, more frequent tropical storms and hurricanes.

The study, led by researchers at Princeton University and MIT,

examined flood risk for 171 counties along the US East Coast and the Gulf of

Mexico. Their analysis concluded that

100-year floods will become annual events in New England. In the US Southeast and Gulf of Mexico,

counties could experience such floods as often as every year up to as seldom as

every 30 years.

Previously, most analysis of coastal flooding has looked only at the

impact of sea level rise on flood risk.

This new research combined the risk of rising seas with projected

changes in coastal storms over the course of this century. Data from the Gulf of Mexico revealed that

the effect of stronger storms is comparable with or even more significant than

the effect of sea level change for 40% of the counties studied. So, neglecting the effects of storm

climatology change is likely to significantly underestimate the impact of

climate change in many places.

The hope is that more comprehensive flood risk data can be used to

create more effective climate resiliency strategies all the way down to the

county level.

**********

Web Links

100-Year Floods Could Soon Happen Annually in Parts of U.S., Study Finds

Photo, posted August 31, 2017, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

...more