Is the frequency and intensity of flooding changing in Europe?

Abstract

Floods have recently become more destructive and projections show that this tendency may become even more pronounced. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001a) reports that the costs of extreme weather events have exhibited a rapid upward trend. From the 1950s to the 1990s, yearly economic losses from weather extremes increased tenfold (in infl ation-adjusted dollars). A part of this trend is linked to socio-economic factors, such as population increase and accumulation of wealth in vulnerable areas, another part is probably linked to increased reporting. However, these factors alone cannot explain the whole observed growth, and possibly a portion of it is linked to climate. © World Health Organization 2005.