Rising global temperatures increases risk of river basins flooding: Study

River basins around the world including in India are vulnerable to increased flood danger from rising global temperatures according to new researchThe study from the University of East Anglia UEA shows even a modest temperature increase of 15 degrees Celsius will spell significant risks for parts of India China Ethiopia Ghana Brazil and EgyptThe findings are published in the journal Climatic ChangeThe team looked at fluvial flood risks for six global warming levels between 15 and 4 degrees Celsius by 2100The study examined six countries all considered to be vulnerable to climate change selected from different continents spanning different levels of development and ranging considerably in sizeDaily time series of precipitation temperature and monthly potential evapotranspiration were generated by combining monthly observations daily reanalysis data and projected changes in the five CMIP5 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 Global Climate ModelsThese series were then used to drive the hydrological and hydrodynamic models to simulate river discharge and flood inundationOur results indicate that return periods of onein100year floods in the late 20th century are likely to decrease with warming meaning an increased number of people will be exposed to flood risks particularly with 4 degrees Celsius warming said Dr Yi He associate professor in UEAs School of Environmental SciencesExposure in the major river basin areas in the six countries increases significantly ranging from a doubling in China to more than 50fold in Egypt Limiting warming to 15 degrees Celsius would decrease the risks resulting in increases ranging from 12 per cent in China to around 13fold in Egypt he saidA onein100year flood event is defined as an event of a size that will be equalled or exceeded on average once every 100 years That is over a period of 1000 years a onein100year event would expect to be equalled or exceeded ten timesHowever that doesnt mean such floods only occur at that frequency and experts believe climate change is leading to more frequent large floods the likes of which have struck parts of Britain Germany the United States Australia and China in recent years due to recordbreaking or heavy sustained rainfallWith global warming heating the oceans and the atmosphere the hydrological cycle intensifies With the atmosphere holding more water as temperatures rise researchers expect increasingly intense and sustained rainfall eventsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever