High-magnitude flooding across Britain since AD 1750
The last decade has witnessed severe flooding across much of the globe, but have these floods really been exceptional? Globally, relatively few instrumental river flow series extend beyond 50 years, with short records presenting significant challenges in determining flood risk from high-magnitude fl...
Published in: | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2018
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-1631-2017 https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/21/1631/2017/ |
id |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:hess26386 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:hess26386 2023-05-15T17:32:44+02:00 High-magnitude flooding across Britain since AD 1750 Macdonald, Neil Sangster, Heather 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-1631-2017 https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/21/1631/2017/ eng eng doi:10.5194/hess-21-1631-2017 https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/21/1631/2017/ eISSN: 1607-7938 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-1631-2017 2019-12-24T09:51:34Z The last decade has witnessed severe flooding across much of the globe, but have these floods really been exceptional? Globally, relatively few instrumental river flow series extend beyond 50 years, with short records presenting significant challenges in determining flood risk from high-magnitude floods. A perceived increase in extreme floods in recent years has decreased public confidence in conventional flood risk estimates; the results affect society (insurance costs), individuals (personal vulnerability) and companies (e.g. water resource managers). Here, we show how historical records from Britain have improved understanding of high-magnitude floods, by examining past spatial and temporal variability. The findings identify that whilst recent floods are notable, several comparable periods of increased flooding are identifiable historically, with periods of greater frequency (flood-rich periods). Statistically significant relationships between the British flood index, the Atlantic Meridional Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation Index are identified. The use of historical records identifies that the largest floods often transcend single catchments affecting regions and that the current flood-rich period is not unprecedented. Text North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 21 3 1631 1650 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
The last decade has witnessed severe flooding across much of the globe, but have these floods really been exceptional? Globally, relatively few instrumental river flow series extend beyond 50 years, with short records presenting significant challenges in determining flood risk from high-magnitude floods. A perceived increase in extreme floods in recent years has decreased public confidence in conventional flood risk estimates; the results affect society (insurance costs), individuals (personal vulnerability) and companies (e.g. water resource managers). Here, we show how historical records from Britain have improved understanding of high-magnitude floods, by examining past spatial and temporal variability. The findings identify that whilst recent floods are notable, several comparable periods of increased flooding are identifiable historically, with periods of greater frequency (flood-rich periods). Statistically significant relationships between the British flood index, the Atlantic Meridional Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation Index are identified. The use of historical records identifies that the largest floods often transcend single catchments affecting regions and that the current flood-rich period is not unprecedented. |
format |
Text |
author |
Macdonald, Neil Sangster, Heather |
spellingShingle |
Macdonald, Neil Sangster, Heather High-magnitude flooding across Britain since AD 1750 |
author_facet |
Macdonald, Neil Sangster, Heather |
author_sort |
Macdonald, Neil |
title |
High-magnitude flooding across Britain since AD 1750 |
title_short |
High-magnitude flooding across Britain since AD 1750 |
title_full |
High-magnitude flooding across Britain since AD 1750 |
title_fullStr |
High-magnitude flooding across Britain since AD 1750 |
title_full_unstemmed |
High-magnitude flooding across Britain since AD 1750 |
title_sort |
high-magnitude flooding across britain since ad 1750 |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-1631-2017 https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/21/1631/2017/ |
genre |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
op_source |
eISSN: 1607-7938 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/hess-21-1631-2017 https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/21/1631/2017/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-1631-2017 |
container_title |
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
1631 |
op_container_end_page |
1650 |
_version_ |
1766130997864169472 |