River floods

Assessment versions

Published (reviewed and quality assured)

• No published assessments

Rationale

Justification for indicator selection

There are many different types of floods. They can be distinguished based on the source of flooding (e.g., rivers and lakes, urban storm water and combined sewage overflow, or sea water), the mechanism of flooding (e.g., natural exceedance, defence or infrastructural failure, or blockage) and other characteristics (e.g., flash flooding, snowmelt flood, or debris flow).

River floods are a common natural disaster in Europe, and –along with storms- the most important natural hazard in Europe in terms of economic damage. They are mainly caused by prolonged or heavy precipitation events or snowmelt. River floods can result in huge economic losses due to damage to infrastructure, property and agricultural land, and indirect losses in or beyond the flooded areas, such as production losses caused by damaged transport or energy infrastructure. They can also lead to loss of life, especially in the case of flash floods, and displacement of people, and can have adverse effects on human health, the environment, and cultural heritage. Floods (including flash floods) have resulted in more than 2,500 fatalities and affected more than 5.5 million people in the period from 1980 to 2011. Direct economic losses over this same period amounted to more than EUR 90 billion (based on 2009 values).

The reporting of flood and drought events has generally improved during the past few decades as a result of improvements in data collection and flows of information. As a result, it is often difficult to identify whether an increase in reported flood events (or their impacts) over time is due mostly to improvements in data collection or to actual changes in these events. Furthermore, river flood records are usually sourced from different institutions and often collected using a wide range of different assessment methods and rationales, which may have changed over time.  This multitude of sources limits the comparability of key attributes associated with such events (e.g. economic losses, human casualties) across space and time.

Scientific references

• No rationale references available

Indicator definition

• Occurrence of major floods in Europe

• Projected change in river floods with a return period of 100 years

Units

• Number of events [dimensionless]
• %

Policy context and targets

Context description

In April 2009 the European Commission presented a White Paper on the framework for adaptation policies and measures to reduce the European Union's vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. The White Paper stresses the need to improve the knowledge base and to mainstream adaptation into existing and new EU policies. The European Commission will be publishing an EU Adaptation Strategy in 2013. A number of Member States have already taken action, and several have prepared national adaptation plans.

The European Commission and the European Environment Agency have developed the European Climate Adaptation Platform (Climate-ADAPT, http://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/) to share knowledge on observed and projected climate change and its impacts on environmental and social systems and on human health; on relevant research; on EU, national and subnational adaptation strategies and plans; and on adaptation case studies.

Targets

No targets have been specified.

Related policy documents

• Climate-ADAPT: Adaptation in EU policy sectors
  Overview of EU sector policies in which mainstreaming of adaptation to climate change is ongoing or explored
• Climate-ADAPT: Country profiles
  Overview of activities of EEA member countries in preparing, developing and implementing adaptation strategies
• DG Climate Action: What is the EU doing about climate change?
  Activities of the EU regarding climate change (both mitigation and adaptation)
• White paper - Adapting to climate change: towards a European framework for action
  EU framework for adaptation to climate change, leading to a comprehensive EU adaptation strategy by 2013

Methodology

Methodology for indicator calculation

http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/eea_report_2008_4/pp76-110CC2008_ch5-4to6_Water_quantity_and_quality.pdf

Methodology for gap filling

Not applicable

Methodology references

No methodology references available.

Data specifications

EEA data references

• No datasets have been specified here.

External data references

• River floods

Data sources in latest figures

Uncertainties

Methodology uncertainty

Not applicable

Data sets uncertainty

Further information on uncertainties is provided in Section 1.7 of the EEA report on Climate change, impacts, and vulnerability in Europe 2012 (http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/climate-impacts-and-vulnerability-2012/)

Rationale uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified