Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States

Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 101
Release: 2019-04-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 030948961X

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Flooding is the natural hazard with the greatest economic and social impact in the United States, and these impacts are becoming more severe over time. Catastrophic flooding from recent hurricanes, including Superstorm Sandy in New York (2012) and Hurricane Harvey in Houston (2017), caused billions of dollars in property damage, adversely affected millions of people, and damaged the economic well-being of major metropolitan areas. Flooding takes a heavy toll even in years without a named storm or event. Major freshwater flood events from 2004 to 2014 cost an average of $9 billion in direct damage and 71 lives annually. These figures do not include the cumulative costs of frequent, small floods, which can be similar to those of infrequent extreme floods. Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States contributes to existing knowledge by examining real-world examples in specific metropolitan areas. This report identifies commonalities and variances among the case study metropolitan areas in terms of causes, adverse impacts, unexpected problems in recovery, or effective mitigation strategies, as well as key themes of urban flooding. It also relates, as appropriate, causes and actions of urban flooding to existing federal resources or policies.

Water Law, Policy and Economics in Italy

Water Law, Policy and Economics in Italy
Author: Paolo Turrini
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 508
Release: 2021-05-12
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 303069075X

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This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the most important water-related issues that centre on Italy, analysed from several disciplinary perspectives – such as hydrology, economics, law, sociology, environmental sciences and policy studies – in order to promote full understanding of the challenges the country is facing and the ways it could best tackle them. Despite the misconception that Italy is a water-scarce country, is in fact quite rich in water resources. Such resources, however, are unevenly distributed over the Italian territory. Italy’s northern regions rely on quite an abundant quantity of freshwater, whereas in the southern area water endowment is limited. Moreover, climatic differences between North and South contribute to widen the divide. This disparity has notable consequences of socio-economic character, some of which, in turn, feed back into the environmental conditions of Italian regions: pollution, floods, landslides and droughts are among the problems affecting the country. There are numerous features of water use and consumption that distinguish Italy from other comparable countries, such as the significant role played by agriculture (a water-intensive activity), a lead position in the consumption of bottled water, lower-than-average prices of water and a far-from-optimal efficiency of waterworks. All such aspects, and many others, make Italy an essential case study.

Handbook on Inequality and the Environment

Handbook on Inequality and the Environment
Author: Michael A. Long
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 667
Release: 2023-06-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1800881134

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This innovative Handbook provides a comprehensive treatment of the complex relationship between inequality and the environment and illustrates the myriad ways in which they intersect. Featuring over 30 contributions from leading experts in the field, it explores the ways in which inequality impacts three of the most pressing contemporary environmental issues: climate change, natural resource extraction, and food insecurity.

Coastal Flood Risk Reduction

Coastal Flood Risk Reduction
Author: Samuel Brody
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2022-04-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0323852521

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Coastal Flood Risk Reduction: The Netherlands and the U.S. Upper Texas Coast represents the culmination of a 5-year international research and education partnership funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and more than 10 years of collaboration between Dutch and U.S. flood experts on the basic issue of how to protect society from growing flood risks. Multiple case studies integrating the fields of engineering, hydrology, landscape architecture, economics, and planning address the underlying characteristics of physical flood risks and their prediction; human communities and the associated built environment; physical, social, and built-environment variables; and mitigation techniques. In recognition of the lack of systematic research and the growing societal need to better understand flood impacts, this edited book provides an in-depth, comparative evaluation of flood problems and solutions in two key places: the Netherlands and the U.S. Upper Texas Coast. Both regions are extremely flood-prone and have experienced continual adverse impacts throughout their histories. For researchers in flood management, geographers, hydrologists, environmental studies, and social science as well as policymakers and decision-makers in flood management authorities and related industries, this book provides an essential resource. Introduces integrated comparative work on flood risk reduction and management across disciplines and international boundaries Presents chapters written by dozens of experts across six U.S. and Dutch universities that have formally participated in the international research and education program funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Provides a basis for understanding and mitigating flood risk over a range of necessary perspectives, from modeling inputs to design solutions Integrates cutting-edge scientific methods and state-of-the-art knowledge with examples of specific solutions and how they are being implemented in each national case study

Fifth World Congress on Disaster Management: Volume V

Fifth World Congress on Disaster Management: Volume V
Author: S. Anand Babu
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 576
Release: 2023-04-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000889688

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World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM) brings researchers, policy makers and practitioners from around the world in the same platform to discuss various challenging issues of disaster risk management, enhance understanding of risks and advance actions for reducing risks and building resilience to disasters. The fifth WCDM deliberates on three critical issues that pose the most serious challenges as well as hold the best possible promise of building resilience to disasters. These are Technology, Finance, and Capacity. WCDM has emerged as the largest global conference on disaster management outside the UN system. The fifth WCDM was attended by more than 2500 scientists, professionals, policy makers, practitioners all around the world despite the prevalence of pandemic.

The Anthropocene

The Anthropocene
Author: David R. Butler
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 544
Release: 2021-12-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 100052230X

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This book is devoted to the Anthropocene, the period of unprecedented human impacts on Earth’s environmental systems, and illustrates how Geographers envision the concept of the Anthropocene. This edited volume illustrates that geographers have a diverse perspective on what the Anthropocene is and represents. The chapters also show that geographers do not feel it necessary to identify only one starting point for the temporal onset of the Anthropocene. Several starting points are suggested, and some authors support the concept of a time-transgressive Anthropocene. Chapters in this book are organized into six sections, but many of them transcend easy categorization and could have fit into two or even three different sections. Geographers embrace the concept of the Anthropocene while defining it and studying it in a variety of ways that clearly show the breadth and diversity of the discipline. This book will be of great value to scholars, researchers, and students interested in geography, environmental humanities, environmental studies, and anthropology. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Annals of the American Association of Geographers.

Resilient Urban Futures

Resilient Urban Futures
Author: Zoé A. Hamstead
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2021-04-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030631311

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This open access book addresses the way in which urban and urbanizing regions profoundly impact and are impacted by climate change. The editors and authors show why cities must wage simultaneous battles to curb global climate change trends while adapting and transforming to address local climate impacts. This book addresses how cities develop anticipatory and long-range planning capacities for more resilient futures, earnest collaboration across disciplines, and radical reconfigurations of the power regimes that have institutionalized the disenfranchisement of minority groups. Although planning processes consider visions for the future, the editors highlight a more ambitious long-term positive visioning approach that accounts for unpredictability, system dynamics and equity in decision-making. This volume brings the science of urban transformation together with practices of professionals who govern and manage our social, ecological and technological systems to design processes by which cities may achieve resilient urban futures in the face of climate change.

Spatial Vulnerability Analysis and Thematic Mapping of Urban Floods

Spatial Vulnerability Analysis and Thematic Mapping of Urban Floods
Author: Mohammad Khalid Hossain
Publisher:
Total Pages: 163
Release: 2020
Genre:
ISBN:

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The social and economic impact of urban flooding is becoming more severe in the United States over time. Urban areas are mostly vulnerable to flash floods because of the impervious surface, which increases the surface runoff. More than 80 percent of people live in urban areas in the United States, and they are at higher risk of urban flooding. Although many urban areas have a higher risk of urban flooding, there is still a significant knowledge gap of understanding between the minority's and nonminority's vulnerability to urban floods. Therefore, using Birmingham, Alabama, as a study area, this research designs a quantitative thematic mapping method to assess the flood risks of urban population and buildings. In this research, census data was used to assess urban residents' vulnerability to flooding using thematic mapping method – location quotient (LQ) and compare it with the widely used social vulnerability index. The findings suggest that the aggregation of White populations is much higher compared to minorities. This research also developed a flood risk model using integrated GIS and cartographic approach considering different environmental factors that influence the urban floods. This study found that the Valley Creek area is the highest flood risk zone in Birmingham, and has the highest percentage of residential (i.e., 56.14 %) and commercial (i.e., 75.34 %) buildings located in very high flood risk areas. The decennial census data from 1990 to 2015 was used to examine whether vulnerable population groups aggregated more in the flooding areas or moved away from Birmingham's flooding areas in the past thirty years. The findings of this research indicate that most minorities are aggregating more in the floodplain areas, whereas the non-minorities are moving away from the flooding regions.

The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate

The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate
Author: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 755
Release: 2022-04-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781009157971

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for assessing the science related to climate change. It provides policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of human-induced climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. This IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate is the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the observed and projected changes to the ocean and cryosphere and their associated impacts and risks, with a focus on resilience, risk management response options, and adaptation measures, considering both their potential and limitations. It brings together knowledge on physical and biogeochemical changes, the interplay with ecosystem changes, and the implications for human communities. It serves policymakers, decision makers, stakeholders, and all interested parties with unbiased, up-to-date, policy-relevant information. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Climate Change and Cities

Climate Change and Cities
Author: Cynthia Rosenzweig
Publisher:
Total Pages: 855
Release: 2018-03-29
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1316603334

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Climate Change and Cities bridges science-to-action for climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts in cities around the world.