flood

Open flood modelling: Real time inundation and human displacement forecasting is now possible!

Asmae Ourkiya September 27, 2024

Floods are powerful natural events that can wreak havoc on communities and ecosystems. Every year, millions of people are affected by floods, leading to loss of life, damage to homes, and disruption of daily life. This blog post explores a new method for quickly mapping flood zones and predicting their impacts. To help communities and decision-makers better prepare, the authors of a recent publica ...[Read More]

Higher Education Resource: River Flood Hazard Modelling & Management

Simon Clark August 16, 2024

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) supports bringing science into the classroom at all learning levels, from schools to universities. Since the Higher Education Teaching Grant programme launched in 2020, EGU has funded 24 projects to develop useful and freely-available geoscience resources to university educators. This blog is part of a series of blogs highlighting the innovative and accessible ...[Read More]

Imaggeo On Monday: Reflections in floodwater

Cyril Mayaud October 26, 2020

This picture shows several trees and the sky reflecting in floodwater during an event that occured in February 2019 in front of the famous Postojna cave (Slovenia). In Slovenian karst areas, floods are considered as a very common natural phenomenon that can occur several times per year. While most of them are not harmful for local people, the most severe events cause considerable damages and might ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: The polje between sky and Earth

Cyril Mayaud September 23, 2019

Poljes are one of the most impressive features existing in karst landscapes. These large flat closed depressions are prone to regular flooding that can form temporary lakes on their surface. Planinsko Polje [in Slovenia] is surely the most famous example of polje existing. The highest floods can reach up to 8 metres above the gauging station and last for more than two months. The lake is then more ...[Read More]

Artificial floods: Restoring the ecological integrity of rivers

Terri Cook May 31, 2017

“You can never step into the same river, for new waters are always flowing on to you.” —Heraclitus of Ephesus Rushing rivers, with their unremitting twists and turns and continuous renewal, are often used as a metaphor for life, but the analogy is just as appropriate for scientific research, I reflected as I walked along the banks of a sparkling, turquoise-blue river in the heart of th ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Sedimentary record of catastrophic floods in the Atacama desert

Manuel Abad and Tatiana Izquierdo May 22, 2017

Despite being one of the driest regions on Earth, the Atacama desert is no stranger to catastrophic flood events. Today’s post highlights how the sands, clays and muds left behind once the flood waters recede can hold the key to understanding this natural hazard. During the severe rains that occurred between May 12 and 13, 2017 in the Atacama Region (Northern Chile) the usually dry Copiapó R ...[Read More]

GeoSciences Column: Mapping floods with social media

Laura Roberts-Artal March 11, 2016

Picture this: you are on your commute home, smartphone or tablet in hand, surfing the internet. You might quickly catch up on the latest news, check in with your friend’s on Facebook, or take to Twitter to share a morsel of information with your followers. This scenario is common in the modern era of technology. No doubt we are all guilty of indulging in a serious session of internet navigation ev ...[Read More]

Floods and droughts set to increase due to climate change

Laura Roberts-Artal April 29, 2015

The planet is set to encounter a record-level amount of floods and droughts by 2050 – researchers recently announced at the European Geosciences Union’s General Assembly in Vienna. Nikita Marwaha shares their predictions on the impact that climate change will have on these extreme weather conditions. In a study by the Joint Research Centre (JRS) – the European Commission’s in-house science service ...[Read More]

Geosciences column: Shelter island – building a barrier to protect the coast

Sara Mynott June 27, 2014

The latest Geosciences Column features recent research into tsunami hazards and explains how island building out to sea can help protect buildings on the shore… Barrier reefs are well known for holding off the wrath of the ocean and sheltering the serene lagoons that stretch between them and the mainland. Barrier islands possess the same protective power, taking the impact of waves that have built ...[Read More]