There’s a rule of thumb that rainfall intensity increases by about 7% per degree Celsius as temperatures rise. But the increase is much higher in the mountains, scientists found.
Giacomo Falchetta, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
There’s a consensus that extreme hydrological events will increase throughout the continent. This will lead to growing issues with power system reliability.
New or improved flood protection can give a false sense of security – the so-called ‘levee effect’. But climate change is unpredictable, meaning ‘residual risk’ always exists and must be planned for.
A beaver-like dam at Wilde Brook on the Corve catchment in Shropshire.
Daniel Jones
With average insurance premiums up 28% in the past year, there’s growing pressure on the insurance industry to rethink its opposition to a government-owned and run disaster reinsurance pool.
Across the world, elderly people tend to be the most vulnerable to climate-related disasters.
Damaged buildings sit in the water along the shore following Hurricane Fiona in Rose Blanche-Harbour Le Cou, N.L. in September, 2022. Fiona left a trail of destruction across much of Atlantic Canada.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Some were quick to point the finger at climate change when floods hit eastern Australia in February and March 2022, in the lead up to the federal election. But it’s not that simple, scientists say.
The Thames is placed in a straitjacket long before London.
photocritical / shutterstock
Australia’s beloved billabongs and waterholes are in danger of filling up with eroded soil from farms, leaving little room for the aquatic animals that depend on these vital drought refuges.
When the roads flooded around Lismore, it left supermarket shelves empty for months. Keeping everyone fed took a huge community effort. Now we need to make food supply secure.
Neighborhood groups in Staten Island, N.Y., encouraged buyouts after Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images
FEMA runs the largest managed retreat program in the country, Two disaster response experts looked at the demographics of who gets those buyouts and where they go.
Yes, we need better flood warnings. But most of us don’t or can’t evacuate from floods. Safety means focusing on community resilience as well as warnings
Mississippi River flooding left parts of Davenport, Iowa, under water in May 2023.
KC McGinnis/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
Extreme weather is a threat to the UK’s electricity system – and climate change is likely to make it even worse.
A placard placed by local activists in Calais, northern France, March 8, 2023. Rhetoric about the threat posed by climate-induced displacement does not accurately portray the reality for most of those affected.
(AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
Recognizing the challenges posed by climate-induced displacement is important. But officials must avoid rhetoric about displaced people that can fuel xenophobia.