According to a recent study, the number of people living in flood susceptible regions has increased in the last 20 years, causing a significant rise of deaths and associated financial damage. The study was approved for publication in Geophysical Research Letters and was based on satellite nightlight images.
Scientists from the Universities of Bologna and Turin in Italy, were based on satellite nightlight images to demonstrate that the number of lights seen at night along rivers has steadily increased by an average of 1.2 percent - yearly - in the period from 1992 to 2012. Among the most vulnerable regions is the delta of the Nile River in Egypt as well as its banks in Sudan as a result of the rapid urbanization, causing an increase in luminosity of approximately 6.4 percent from 1991 to 2012. In 2007 extensive flooding has already hit the area, leaving many casualties and economic losses behind. Second in the list appears China, with a yearly increase of 5.6 percent in luminosity during the same time frame, a country that has also been severely hurt by floods in 2010.
Additionally to the satellite images, researchers also used U.S.G.S. Survey maps of the river network worldwide, in an attempt to locate regions exposed to river floods. In the future, scientists intend to combine this study with climate-change models as well as information on the expected frequency of flood events aiming in improving their findings.
For more information on the study, please click here!
Source: AGUblogosphere
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