A major international research project led by TU Wien (Vienna) shows for the first time that flooding characteristics in recent decades are unlike those of previous centuries.
A major international research project led by TU Wien (Vienna) shows for the first time that flooding characteristics in recent decades are unlike those of previous centuries.
Overflowing rivers can cause enormous problems: Worldwide, the annual damage caused by river floods is estimated at over 100 billion dollars - and it continues to rise. To date it has been unclear whether Europe is currently in a flood-rich period from a long-term perspective.
Austrian flood expert Prof. Günter Blöschl from TU Wien, opens an external URL in a new window (Vienna) has led a large international study involving a total of 34 research groups that provides clear evidence that the past three decades were among the most flood-rich periods in Europe during the past 500 years, and that this period differs from others in terms of its extent, air temperatures and flood seasonality. Compared to the past, floods tend to be larger in many places, the timing has shifted and the relationship between flood occurrence and air temperatures has reversed. In the past, floods tended to occur more frequently in cold phases, while today, global warming is one of the main drivers of their increase. The results of the study have now been published in "Nature, opens an external URL in a new window" magazine.
Read more at Vienna University of Technology
Image: Flooding in Vienna, 1830 (Credit: TU Wien)
