Flooding & Droughts

Question 1

What causes flooding?

Answer 1

• Huge amounts of direct rain
• Small rivers/creeks flash flood (upstream precipitation)
• Prolonged flood of major rivers (quick snow melt)
• Storms causing Coastal Flooding

Question 2

True or False: There is evidence that global frequency or magnitude of floods is currently going up.

Answer 2

False.

Question 3

True or False: Attribution study shows that the odds of a Harvey-like event have increased because of warming.

Answer 3

True.

Question 4

Why are floods difficult to predict? (5)

Answer 4

• Rare Event
• Difficult to Gather Hourly Rainfall Data
• Internal Variation
• Human-Induced River Configurations Continuously Changing
• Deforestation

Question 5

What are the four types of droughts?

Answer 5

Meteorological, Hydrological, Ecological, and Agricultural

Question 6

Effects of Droughts on Humans

Answer 6

• Electricity (increase emissions by 10% -> forced to rely on fossil fuels)
• Agriculture (socioeconomic problems, famine, migration)

Question 7

Effects of Droughts on Ecosystems (3)

Answer 7

• Wildfires
• Fishes (easier to warm shallow waters -> inhospitable for salmon)
• Scarcity of habitat, food, and water for other species

Question 8

True or False: There are enough direct observations of droughts to suggest high confidence in observed trends globally.

Answer 8

False.

Question 9

What are the expectations for droughts in the future?

Answer 9

Increased heating from global warming may NOT cause droughts. However, droughts are expected to set in more frequently and intensely.

Question 10

What do attribution studies tell us about droughts and floods?

Answer 10

Whether anthropogenic emissions have altered past and present drought risks.