Breaking News: Floods

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Coral reefs provide many services to coastal communities, including critical protection from flood damage. A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the U.S. Geological Survey reveals how valuable coral reefs are in protecting people, structures, and economic activity in the United States from coastal flooding during storms.

• share
• favorite_border

Whatever ultimately caused inhabitants to abandon Cahokia, it was not because they cut down too many trees, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

• share
• favorite_border

In the vast Colorado River basin, climate change is driving extreme, interconnected events among earth-system elements such as weather and water.

• share
• favorite_border

The rate of sea-level rise in the 20th century along much of the U.S. Atlantic coast was the fastest in 2,000 years, and southern New Jersey had the fastest rates, according to a Rutgers-led study.

• share
• favorite_border

An international team of researchers including the University of Adelaide has demonstrated that climate change is responsible for the changes in the flow and water volume of rivers globally, with major implications for Australia.

• share
• favorite_border

Why are “ghost forests” filled with dead trees expanding along the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coast? Higher groundwater levels linked to sea-level rise and increased flooding from storm surges and very high tides are likely the most important factors, according to a Rutgers study on the impacts of climate change that suggests how to enhance land-use planning.

• share
• favorite_border

Insurance policy premiums from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) allow policyholders to maintain a lower, grandfathered rate even when the risk escalates. But as coastal flooding increases due to rising sea level and more intense storms, new research published in the journal Risk Analysis suggests this grandfathered policy could lead to big losses for the NFIP. A team of experts led by Carolyn Kousky, executive director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, studied the effect of sea level rise on a New York City neighborhood to illustrate how grandfathered rates could impact both policyholder premiums and program revenue for the NFIP over the next 30 years. Their results project losses to the NFIP as flood risk grows in the coming decades.

• share
• favorite_border

ORNL story tips: Volcanic microbes, unbreakable bonds and flood mapping

• share
• favorite_border

Research co-authored by University of California scientists has found that by 2050, as many as 24,500 affordable housing units in the United States are projected to be exposed to coastal flooding.

• share
• favorite_border

Superstorm Sandy brought flood-levels to the New York region that had not been seen in generations.

• share
• favorite_border

DHS S&T released “Low Cost Flood Sensors: Urban Installation Guidebook” to do just that—help communities deploy and operate low cost sensors for flood monitoring and management.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

In flood-prone areas of the Hudson River valley in New York state, census areas with more white and affluent home owners tend to file a higher percentage of flood insurance claims than lower-income, minority residents, according to a new study.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

When a hurricane approaches, providing a few extra hours’ notice can be the difference between life and death. Now, Penn State researchers report that applying a machine learning technique to a group of possible storm paths could help meteorologists provide more accurate medium-term forecasts and issue timely warnings to communities in the path of these potentially deadly storms.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

While many models suggest that climate change will prompt a substantial number of people to leave their homes, not all research so clearly finds this is the case. Investigating cases where computer models seemed to indicate only limited impacts of climate change on people leaving rural areas, a team of researchers now suggest that the models may reveal a more nuanced circular migration pattern in areas stricken by climate change impacts.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study reveals that urgent action is needed to protect billions of dollars in real estate investment across South Florida due to impacts of sea level rise over the next several decades. The report casts light on the issues and clarifies the alternatives available to South Florida, which embraces the four counties of Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Together, these counties generate more than $337 billion in personal income annually with a combined real property value assessed at more than $833 billion.

• share
• favorite_border

In the last several decades, more than half of the deaths associated with tropical cyclones in the U.S. were due to inland flooding. Unfortunately, current forecasting capabilities are limited. Researchers are developing a warning system for more accurate and timely detection and forecasting of inland and coastal floods, under a variety of precipitation regimes. The technology will enable local and state governments to more effectively plan and respond to tropical storms.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Four years after the disastrous flooding in southern West Virginia, new research highlights the role faith-based groups and other community organizations have played in the relief and recovery efforts.

• share
• favorite_border

The study underscores the urgency of identifying alternatives to improve river management and confront the new normal of more frequent river floods.

• share
• favorite_border

June 1 is the start of hurricane season in the Atlantic, with flooding often the most damaging effect of tropical storms. Now, in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology, researchers study water quality impacts of two recent hurricanes in North Carolina and suggest interventions to protect susceptible areas.

• share
• favorite_border

Poorer rural Amazonians are going hungry despite living in one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet - a new study reveals.

• share
• favorite_border

Patience is a virtue for on-farm flood recovery

• share
• favorite_border

Think your daily coffee, boutique gym membership and airport lounge access cost a lot? There may be an additional, hidden cost to those luxuries of urban living, says a new Johns Hopkins University study: more flooding. For every percentage point increase in roads, parking lots and other impervious surfaces that prevent water from flowing into the ground, annual floods increase on average by 3.3%, the researchers found.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study shows for the first time how massive flood events in the eastern North Pacific Ocean—known as the Missoula Floods—may have in part triggered abrupt climate changes in the Northern Hemisphere during the last deglaciation (approximately 19,000–11,700 years ago). The findings are contrary to the long held notion that cooling was primarily driven by changes in North Atlantic circulation.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Unique soils provide many beneficial values to society.

• share
• favorite_border

A new network of researchers and community officials is working to find solutions to some of the biggest challenges within the Mississippi River watershed.

• share
• favorite_border

A combination of climate change, extreme weather and pressure from local human activity is causing a collapse in global biodiversity and ecosystems across the tropics, new research shows.

• share
• favorite_border

Rising sea levels, a direct impact of the Earth’s warming climate, is intensifying coastal flooding. The findings of a new study show that the projected negative economy-wide effects of coastal flooding are already significant until 2050, but are then predicted to increase substantially towards the end of the century if no further climate action on mitigation and adaptation is taken.

• share
• favorite_border

Irvine, Calif., Jan. 21, 2020 – Community collaboration and high-resolution maps are key to effective flood risk management, according to civil engineers and social scientists at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions. In a study published recently in the American Geophysical Union journal Earth’s Future, the researchers report on a successful new process called “collaborative flood modeling” for addressing the increasing threat of rising waters brought on by climate change, aging infrastructure and rapid urban development.