(Press-News.org) A rise in the number of reported floods in the UK over the past 129 years can mainly be explained by increased exposure, resulting from urban expansion and population growth, according to new research by the University of Southampton.
In one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, scientists have discovered that although the number of reported floods has gone up during the 20th and 21st Century, this trend disappears when the figures are adjusted to reflect population growth and increased building numbers over the same period.
Published in the journal Hydrological Sciences, the study looks at data sets from 1884 to 2013 and found an upward trend in reported flooding, with flood events appearing more frequently towards the end of the 20th century, peaking in 2012 when annual rainfall was the second highest in over 100 years.
The rise in UK flood reports over the 20th Century coincides with population growth from 38.2 million to 59.1 million and a tripling in the number of houses, from 7.7 million to 24.8 million.
"As a result there were more properties exposed to flooding and more people to report flooding," says lead author Andrew Stevens. "A higher exposure to flooding will result in more reported flood events and larger potential damages."
The study found significant variation between decades in both the raw and adjusted data, with the years between 1908 -1934, 1977 – 1988 and 1998 - 2013 featuring a relatively high numbers of reported floods.
The effect of increasing and improving flood defences is unclear. While upgrades to artificial defences, like the Thames Barrier, have reduced the effect of extreme sea level events, natural flood defences may have declined over the study period.
"Attributing periods of reduced flood damage simply to the effects of improved management is difficult and must be done with care," says co-author Derek Clarke.
Professor Robert Nicholls adds "These observations should not stop concern about future flood impacts, especially in coastal areas where faster sea-level rises are expected and areas potentially exposed to higher rainfall intensities. Future flood risk may be very sensitive to changes in funding or management approaches and this has important implications for decision makers."
INFORMATION:
Notes to editors
1. The paper Trends in reported flooding in the UK: 1884-2013 is published in Hydrological Sciences. Paper is available upon request from the media relations team.
2. Interviews with the Derek Clarke, co-author of the study, are available upon request from the media relations team.
3. Through world-leading research and enterprise activities, the University of Southampton connects with businesses to create real-world solutions to global issues. Through its educational offering, it works with partners around the world to offer relevant, flexible education, which trains students for jobs not even thought of. This connectivity is what sets Southampton apart from the rest; we make connections and change the world. http://www.southampton.ac.uk/
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/weareconnected
#weareconnected
For further information contact:
Steven Williams, Media Relations, University of Southampton, Tel: 023 8059 2128, email: S.Williams@soton.ac.uk
http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/
Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/unisouthampton
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/unisouthampton
Increase in reported flooding a result of higher exposure
2014-08-20
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
How parents juggle work hours may influence kids' weight
2014-08-20
The way parents balance their work schedules may affect their adolescent children's eating habits, according to Penn State researchers.
Those schedules may be even more important than the number of hours the parents spend at work, said Molly Martin, associate professor of sociology and demography.
Adolescents with moms and dads who spend more time at home, especially at breakfast and dinner time, generally have healthier eating behaviors and in some cases better exercise habits than most adolescents, according to the researchers.
For example, parents who spend time ...
Guiding Stars
2014-08-20
Can nutrition rating systems be used in supermarkets to encourage healthier spending habits? A new study by Cornell University researchers sought to answer that very question by tracking the purchasing records in a supermarket chain that uses the Guiding Stars System to rate the nutritional value of foods for sale.
The researchers, including Cornell Food and Brand Lab's David Just, PhD, and Brian Wansink PhD, author of Slim by Design (forthcoming), studied the sales records of over 150 Hannaford Supermarkets in the Northeastern United States between January 2005 and December ...
Extended support helps patients stay smoke-free after hospital discharge
2014-08-19
Smokers admitted to U.S. hospitals cannot smoke during their stay and could use this time as an opportunity to quit, but few are able to stay smoke-free after returning home. Now a study published in the August 20 issue of JAMA describes a program that increased the proportion of hospitalized smokers who successfully quit smoking after discharge by more than 70 percent. The system used interactive voice response technology – automated telephone calls – to provide support and stop-smoking medication for three months after smokers left the hospital.
"Most smokers want ...
Intervention helps smokers quit following hospital stay
2014-08-19
Among hospitalized adult smokers who wanted to quit, a postdischarge intervention that included automated telephone calls and free medication resulted in higher sustained smoking cessation rates at six months than standard postdischarge advice to use smoking cessation medication and counseling, according to a study in the August 20 issue of JAMA.
Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. For the nearly 4 million smokers hospitalized each year, a hospital stay offers a good opportunity to quit smoking because all hospitals are now ...
Over-reliance of pulse oximetry for children with respiratory infection
2014-08-19
Among infants presenting to a pediatric emergency department with mild to moderate bronchiolitis, those with an artificially elevated oxygen saturation reading were less likely to be hospitalized or receive hospital care for more than 6 hours than those with unaltered readings, suggesting that these readings should not be the only factor in the decision to admit or discharge, according to a study in the August 20 issue of JAMA.
Bronchiolitis, a viral lower respiratory tract infection, is the leading cause of infant hospitalizations in the United States, with annual costs ...
Study examines incidence, survival rate of severe immunodeficiency disorder in newborns
2014-08-19
Newborn screening performed in numerous states indicates that the incidence of the potentially life-threatening disorder, severe combined immunodeficiency, is higher than previously believed, at 1 in 58,000 births, although there is a high rate of survival, according to a study in the August 20 issue of JAMA.
The purpose of newborn screening is early detection of inborn conditions for which prompt treatments can reduce the risk of death or irreversible damage. The first heritable immune disorders to which newborn screening has been applied are those that together comprise ...
Prevalence of HSV type 2 decreases among pregnant women in the Pacific Northwest
2014-08-19
In a study that included approximately 15,000 pregnant women, seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 decreased substantially between 1989 and 2010 while there was no overall decrease for HSV type 1, but a slight increase among black women, according to a study in the August 20 issue of JAMA.
Shani Delaney, M.D., and Anna Wald, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues examined trends in the seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 among pregnant women who delivered newborns at the University of Washington Medical Center between January ...
UCSF-led study finds SCID previously underdiagnosed in infants with fatal infections
2014-08-19
Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), a potentially life-threatening, but treatable, disorder affecting infants, is twice as common as previously believed, according to a new study that is the first to examine the national impact of this newborn screening test.
The study is the first combined analysis of more than 3 million infants screened for SCID in 10 states and the Navajo Nation. Infants from participating programs born from the start of the first pilot program in January 2008 through July 2013 were included.
In May, 2010, SCID was the 29th condition added ...
In-utero methadone, Subutex exposure could alter gene expression, cause severe Neonatal Abstience Syndrome
2014-08-19
(Boston) – Some infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) secondary to in-utero opioid exposure have a more difficult time going through withdrawal than others, but the underlying reasons are not well understood. While genetic and epigenetic (when genes are turned on or off) changes have recently been identified as potential factors, researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) conducted a first of its kind study to identify some of these epigenetic changes that may influence symptom severity.
The researchers focused ...
Novel oral anticoagulant prescriptions soar, but at a high cost
2014-08-19
Philadelphia, PA, August 19, 2014 – Warfarin, the longtime standard treatment for atrial fibrillation, is facing competition from new options in the anticoagulant drug marketplace including dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban. A new study documents the rapid adoption of these novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) into clinical practice. By mid-2013 NOACs accounted for 62% of all new anticoagulant prescriptions yet this represents 98% of total anticoagulant-related drug costs. Findings are published in The American Journal of Medicine.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a serious ...