Annual Cost From Flood Damage Expected to Reach $1 Trillion by 2050
Geo Beats
2013-08-21
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A new study estimates that flood damage to major coastal cities around the world might cost over one trillion dollars by the year 2050.
A new study estimates that flood damage to major coastal cities around the world might cost over one trillion dollars by the year 2050.
[Stéphane Hallegatte] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMMXyeCENbU 29:52-39:53
According to the study, a lot of the large coastal cities that are threatened by flooding due to rising sea levels and a lack of protection from natural disasters are located in the United States and China.
The report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also said that even if flood protection were invested in, the costs of dealing with flood damage might still be around 60 billion dollars a year by 2050.
Stéphane Hallegatte, a senior economist with the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and the study's lead author said: “There is a limit to what can be achieved with hard protection: populations and assets will remain vulnerable to defense failures or to exceptional events that exceed the protection design.”
Hallegatte also warns that inadequate protection is actually worse as it gives cities a false sense of security allowing for dense development with devastating results if the limited protection measures fail.
What do you think can be done to minimize flood damage in the future?
A new study estimates that flood damage to major coastal cities around the world might cost over one trillion dollars by the year 2050.
[Stéphane Hallegatte] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMMXyeCENbU 29:52-39:53
According to the study, a lot of the large coastal cities that are threatened by flooding due to rising sea levels and a lack of protection from natural disasters are located in the United States and China.
The report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also said that even if flood protection were invested in, the costs of dealing with flood damage might still be around 60 billion dollars a year by 2050.
Stéphane Hallegatte, a senior economist with the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and the study's lead author said: “There is a limit to what can be achieved with hard protection: populations and assets will remain vulnerable to defense failures or to exceptional events that exceed the protection design.”
Hallegatte also warns that inadequate protection is actually worse as it gives cities a false sense of security allowing for dense development with devastating results if the limited protection measures fail.
What do you think can be done to minimize flood damage in the future?
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