Flooding

Question 1

What is the cost of flooding in the UK?

Answer 1

Approximately £250M–880M annually.

In UK, “flooding and coastal change” now the country’s primary climate-related risk.

Question 2

In UK, areas of high socioeconomic deprivation are how much more likely to be at high risk of coastal flooding?

Answer 2

60%

Question 3

IPCC has low confidence on there being an actual rise in storm intensity and frequency.
Storms drive waves -> waves push water ashore and pile it up against the coast

Add…

Answer 3

Storm surge and Sea level rise

Question 4

(Conventional) flood management

Answer 4

• Channelisation DESIGNED to pass flood flow quickly
• Channel built to contain all flood water
• High volume through a pipe?
• Constrict flow, flow velocity goes up
• Flood “wave” passes rapidly
• BUT just passes flood flow downstream and what happens where the defenses end?

Question 5

Why are elderly people that often situate themselves on coasts more vulnerable to flooding?

Answer 5

Less mobile

Question 6

What happens when nutrients are dumped into near coastal waters following agricultural activity and water transport/ flooding?

Answer 6

Boom in bioproductivity in algal blooms- they die and get rid of O2 from water column, low levels of dissolved co2 in water.