Our Flooded Future Looms [Slide Show]

One of the greatest dangers cities face from continuing climate change stems from increasingly severe floods

THAMES FLOOD BARRIER Cities are starting to wake up to the threat from increased flooding due to climate change. Mayors and urban managers often have a keener awareness than national leaders of the potential effects of global warming... Damien Moore
MINOT, N.D., CLEANUP, 2011 Floods can leave behind more than just physical damage. People who are at greater risk of developing mental health problems after a flood include women and individuals who are poor, elderly, have chronic health problems, did not go to college or do not have many friends or strong family ties, according to recent research... Patsy Lynch/FEMA
NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY FLOOD, 2008 Belowground infrastructure is especially vulnerable even when water levels on the surface are not especially high. For example, essential elements of a subway system, such as motors, relays, resistors, pumps and transformers, often must be repaired or replaced after a flood... Guyermo
LONDON TUBE FLOOD The growing number and severity of urban floods increasingly threaten key transportation infrastructure, such as trains, subways, highways and airports. Annie Mole
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LOUISIANA FLOOD, 2008 Fast-moving floods often demand that residents make snap decisions—such as whether or not to leave a pet or possessions behind—which can mean the difference between a successful exit or a failed, and possibly fatal, one... U.S. Army photo by Rebekah L. Malone
TEXAS FLOOD, 2008 A flood's massive volume of liquid and debris wreaks havoc on infrastructure, often leaving safe drinking water and ice in short supply. The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season was particularly active with 16 named storms, including eight hurricanes... US Army photo by First Sgt. Lek Mateo
QUEENSLAND FLOOD, 2011 Currently about 38.5 million people living in cities around the world are at risk of suffering an extremely severe flood with water levels at the 100-year mark. By the 2070s, the number of urban dwellers affected by such severe floods could more than triple to around 150 million people, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development... Australian Defence Force/PO Damian Pawlenko/(C)Commonwealth of Australia
NORTH DAKOTA FLOOD, 2011 Residents of industrialized countries are not immune to flood damage. Preliminary estimates from the U.S. Department of Commerce put the damage from flooding in the Midwest during the spring of 2011 between $2 billion and $4 billion... U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Jesse Lopez
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HAITI FLOOD, 2010 In developing countries, informal settlements are often most vulnerable to flooding—typically because poor people often find they can only make a home in flood-prone areas. UN Photo/UNICEF/Marco Dormino

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