Climate change increases flood damage in Switzerland
Published: Thursday, Jun 6th 2024, 12:11
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Floods could cause significantly greater damage in Switzerland in the future. As a result of the increase in heavy rainfall caused by global warming, damage will rise sharply, according to calculations using a new tool developed by the University of Bern.
Even small increases in the amount of water cause a sharp rise in damage, according to a press release issued by the university on Thursday. An increase in peak discharges caused by climate change leads to a significantly higher increase in damage.
Experts assume that additional outflows of 10 to 20 percent can be expected due to climate change. As the Mobiliar Lab's tool for natural risks shows, an additional runoff of 10 percent leads to an increase in building damage of more than 40 percent. With an additional runoff of 20 percent, the damage increases by 80 percent.
Important for flood management
However, not all stretches of water are affected to the same extent. The decisive factor is how the areas have developed historically, explained Andreas Zischg, co-head of the Mobiliar Lab, when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency.
He cited the Emme in Burgdorf BE as an example. According to the researcher, if the Emme carries even more water during a flood than during previous floods, the flooded area expands rapidly. A counter-example is the Aare in the Matte in Bern. As this is located in a kind of valley, it will not flood larger areas than before, even with slightly higher water volumes.
According to Zischg, the strengths of the "Risk sensitivity ??? tool lie in such differentiated analyses. Damaging floods in a changing climate". This allows priorities to be set in flood risk management and appropriate measures to be implemented.
©Keystone/SDA
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