Changing climate shifts timing of European floods

Gunter Bloschl, Julia Hall, Juray Parajka, Rui A. P. Perdigao, Bruno Merz, Berit Arheimer, Thomas Kjeldsen

OAI: oai:purehost.bath.ac.uk:openaire_cris_publications/05b68b77-e5cb-4aad-9adc-fb851577eb51 • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan2506

A warming climate is expected to have an impact on the magnitude and timing of river floods; however, no consistent large-scale climate change signal in observed flood magnitudes has been identified so far. We analyzed the timing of river floods in Europe over the past five decades, using a pan-European database from 4262 observational hydrometric stations, and found clear patterns of change in flood timing. Warmer temperatures have led to earlier spring snowmelt floods throughout northeastern Europe; delayed winter storms associated with polar warming have led to later winter floods around the North Sea and some sectors of the Mediterranean coast; and earlier soil moisture maxima have led to earlier winter floods in western Europe. Our results highlight the existence of a clear climate signal in flood observations at the continental scale.

flooding hydrology /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action