Examining a subject closely and comprehending its essential features. Exploring in detail the characteristics of something. Breaking down and comprehensively understanding a situation or subject. - Enhanced flooding due to climate change.
Climate change had an influence on the devastating flooding experienced in South Germany, indicates a prompt assessment by the research group Climameter. The heavy rainfall which caused the flooding was about 10% stronger as a result of human-induced warming, as per the studies by this consortium. There was no involvement of natural climate events like El Niño in worsening the scenario.
The research group explained that even the seemingly inconsequential increase in precipitation intensity can lead to significant consequences. For instance, the 2021 flood in the Ahr Valley was amplified by climate change to the extent of 3-19%.
Climameter is a joint effort between the European Union and the French research institution CNRS. The study - referred to as an attribution study - utilized meteorological data spanning over the past 40 years. The team compared low-pressure systems from the end of the 20th century (1979-2001) to those of the recent decades (2002-2023). They found that such low-pressure systems are approximately 10% more intense these days.
In early June, storms brought about heavy rainfall and severe flooding, predominantly in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Regrettably, a few people lost their lives, thousands needed to be evacuated, and there were dam failures and landslides.
Commenting on the findings, one of the researchers, Davide Faranda from CNRS, stated, "Climate change, driven by CO2 emissions, impacts developed countries, including Germany, and can result in social, economic, and ecological damage." He reiterated that all demographics are susceptible to climate change and that a substantial reduction in the utilization of fossil fuels is crucial in decreasing the risks posed by climate extremes in a world experiencing global warming.
On the other hand, Erika Coppola from the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste affirmed that measures designed for flood protection in a country like Germany are no longer adequate to deal with increased runoff. She expressed that new strategies and measures must be adopted to manage the growing likelihood of similar flood events that are escalating in occurrence frequency compared to the past and are expected to get worse since human-induced climate change is at play. Coppola firmly stated, "The scientific evidence is clear. There is no room for doubt, and the time for action is now."
