Changes in Flood Risk in Europe

Floods are the most prevalent natural hazard in Europe. Has flood risk increased in the continent? How, where, and why? Are climate change impacts apparent? How do socio-economic trends and associated land-use and land-cover change impact flood risk? This book considers national and regional perspectives on flood risk change, detection and attribution of change, and the re-insurer's point of view. Offers an overview of flood risk in Europe, past, present, and future Includes national/regional chapters covering central, western, southern, and northern Europe, the Alpine region, and the Iberian Peninsula Rectifies commonplace judgements: e.g. the climate is warming so floods should be becoming more frequent and intense, but observations do not always confirm this expectation

Table of Contents:
Introduction Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz I FACETS OF CHANGE Changes in Flood Risk – Setting the Stage Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz, Erich J. Plate, Harvey J. E. Rodda, John C. Rodda, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber & Witold G. Strupczewski Catalogue of Large Floods in Europe in the 20th Century Adam Choryński, Iwona Pińskwar, Wolfgang Kron, G. Robert Brakenridge & Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz Large-scale Flooding in Europe, 1961–2005 Christel Prudhomme, Simon Parry, Marie Genevier, Jamie Hannaford & Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz Changing Floods in Europe Iwona Pińskwar, Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz, Pascal Peduzzi, G. Robert Brakenridge, Kerstin Stahl & Jamie Hannaford Changes in Intense Precipitation in Europe Olga Zolina Historical Floods in Europe in the Past Millennium Rudolf Brázdil, Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz, Gerardo Benito, Gaston Demarée, Neil Macdonald & Lars A. Roald II NATIONAL AND REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON FLOODS Floods in Austria Günter Blöschl, Ralf Merz, Juraj Parajka, José Salinas & Alberto Viglione Floods in the Czech Republic R. Brázdil, L. Řezníčková, M. Havlíček & L. Elleder Floods in France Ignazio Giuntoli, Benjamin Renard & Michel Lang Flood Risk from a Holistic Perspective – Observed Changes in Germany Fred F. Hattermann, Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz, Shaochun Huang, Tobias Vetter, Wolfgang Kron, Olaf Burghoff, Bruno Merz, Axel Bronstert, Valentina Krysanova, Friedrich-Wilhelm Gerstengarbe, Peter Werner & Ylva Hauf Floods in Greece D. Koutsoyiannis, N. Mamassis, A. Efstratiadis, N. Zarkadoulas & I. Markonis Floods in Iceland Árni Snorrason, Bergur Einarsson, Emmanuel Pagneux, Jórunn Harðardóttir, Matthew J. Roberts, Oddur Sigurðsson, Óðinn Thórarinsson, Philippe Crochet, Tómas Jóhannesson & Thorsteinn Thorsteinsson Flood Risk in Italy Paola Salvati, Cinzia Bianchi, Mauro Rossi & Fausto Guzzetti Floods in The Netherlands J. K. Vrijling Floods in Norway Lars Andreas Roald Floods in Poland Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz, Andrzej Dobrowolski, Halina Lorenc, Tadeusz Niedźwiedź, Iwona Pińskwar & Piotr Kowalczak Floods in Switzerland Petra Schmocker-Fackel & Felix Naef Flood Risk in the UK: Evidence of Change and Management Responses Jamie Hannaford & Jim W. Hall Floods in the Alpine Areas of Europe Antoine Bard, Benjamin Renard & Michel Lang Floods in the Iberian Peninsula Gerardo Benito & Maria J. Machado III DETECTION AND ATTRIBUTION OF CHANGE, AND PROSPECTS Detection of Changes Sheng Yue, Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz & Linghui Wang Detection and Attribution of Climate Change and Its Impacts Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz & Wolfgang Cramer Detection and Attribution of Changes in Water Resources Dieter Gerten, Wolfgang Lucht & Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz Detection and Attribution of Changes in Flood Hazard and Risk Bruno Merz, Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz, Jose Delgado, Yeshewa Hundecha & Heidi Kreibich Changing Flood Risk – A Re-insurer’s Viewpoint Wolfgang Kron Projections of Flood Risk in Europe Christel Prudhomme, Jennifer Williamson, Simon Parry & Jamie Hannaford