Humans Increasingly Settling in High-Risk Flood Zones
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Humans are increasingly settling in areas highly exposed to dangerous flooding, a study warned Wednesday, with China helping drive the rise in risky urban expansion into exposed areas.
The research, led by a World Bank economist, warns that settlement growth in flood zones has vastly outpaced growth in safe areas since 1985.
"In a time when human settlements should be adapting to climate change, many countries are actually rapidly increasing their exposure to floods," author Jun Rentschler told AFP.
The study analyzed 30 years of satellite imagery tracking the expansion of human settlement globally, along with flood maps.
[...] East Asia and the Pacific region are among the most exposed, driven particularly by urban expansion in China, as well as Vietnam and Bangladesh.
"In Vietnam, where almost one-third of the coastline is now built up, the safest and most productive locations are increasingly occupied," the authors wrote.
"Thus, new developments are disproportionately forced onto hazardous land and previously avoided areas, such as riverbeds or floodplains."
The analysis does not incorporate potential increases in flood risks caused by climate change, deforestation or changes to features such as riverbeds.
But Rentschler said there was little evidence flood zones were expanding at a rate similar to human settlement in known risk areas, suggesting settlement patterns remain the key factor for policymakers to address.
[...] Rentschler argues understanding the settlement trend should be the first step in shifting urbanization policies.
"This is where you want to start: before reducing risks, countries need to stop increasing it," he said.
"Local authorities can actually do much more to protect people and prevent future climate change impacts."
Journal Reference:
Rentschler, J., Avner, P., Marconcini, M. et al. Global evidence of rapid urban growth in flood zones since 1985. Nature 622, 87-92 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06468-9
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