Impact of Climate Change on Flooding

Abstract

This chapter presents the impact of climate change on global flooding. As historical trends in flooding are difficult to identify, attention is first given to the hydroclimatic drivers of flooding and how these drivers are changing. Following that, changes in flooding are presented. Focus is given to the changes in the magnitude of annual flood maxima at a global scale. Although relatively systematic worldwide changes in precipitation extremes are observed, changes in flooding vary regionally. It is concluded that changes in flooding will depend on the complex interaction of changes in extreme precipitation, antecedent moisture conditions, and snowmelt. The impact of changes in these flood drivers is dependent on both how extreme the event being considered is and on the size of the catchment of interest. Localized studies will continue to be required to understand the impact of climatic change on flooding.