Increasing impacts of floods and droughts worldwide

Warning about current risk management not being effective when facing extreme episodes of floods and droughts. Risk management has reduced the vulnerability to floods and droughts around the world, but their impact is still increasing worldwide, according to a study published in the journal Nature , which includes the participation of the researcher María del Carmen Llasat, professor of Atmospheric Physics at the Faculty of Physics and member of the Water Research Institute (IdRA ) of the University of Barcelona. This intensification of the impact of natural phenomena is particularly noticeable when the second event —rain, floods or droughts— affecting the same region has a higher degree of hazard —more intensity and magnitude— than the first previously recorded event. "This results from the fact that the improvement in management has been based on the parameters of previous episodes, but it has not been designed to cope with such extreme events. The difficulty observed in managing unprecedented events is alarming, especially if we consider that, as a result of the climate change, the hydrological events that are projected are becoming increasingly extreme", notes Llasat, who received the Saint George's Cross this year for her scientific career in the field of physics and for the study, research and awareness of climate change and natural hazards. Flood and drought episodes worldwide - The study analyses 29 pairs of flood episodes and 15 cases drought episodes in different areas of the world.