Warming of 0.5 °C may cause double the economic loss and increase the population affected by floods in China

Abstract

Abstract. Based on future scenario data and an improved quantitative natural-disaster risk assessment model, in this study, we analysed the response of the characteristics of flood events in China to 1.5 and 2 ∘C of global warming, quantitatively assessed the population affected and the economic risks of floods, and determined the integrated risk levels. The results indicate that, for the RCP4.5 (Representative Concentration Pathway) and RCP8.5 scenarios, the probability and distribution area of the floods increase with increasing temperature and the influence range of the floods of different levels expands more rapidly under the RCP4.5 scenario. The floods mainly affect the social economy in the regions with lower altitudes and smaller slopes in eastern China. As the increase in temperature intensifies, the population affected and the direct economic losses are aggravated. For 2 ∘C of global warming, under the RCP8.5 scenario, the population affected by floods increases by 2 million, and the economic risk nearly doubles compared with 1.5 ∘C of global warming. The economic risk under the RCP4.5 scenario even reaches 3 times that for 1.5 ∘C of global warming, but its proportion to the gross domestic product (GDP) is lower than that under the RCP8.5 scenario. Under both scenarios, the ranges of the zones of medium–high flood risk gradually expand westward and northward.