Strong Influence of El Niño Southern Oscillation on Flood Risk around the World. Ward, P. J., Jongman, B., Kummu, M., Dettinger, M. D., Sperna Weiland, F. C., & Winsemius, H. C. 111(44):15659–15664.
Strong Influence of El Niño Southern Oscillation on Flood Risk around the World [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
[Significance] El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects hydrological processes around the globe. However, little is known about its influence on the socioeconomic impacts of flooding (i.e., flood risk). We present, to our knowledge, the first global assessment of ENSO's influence on flood risk in terms of economic damage and exposed population and gross domestic product. We show that reliable flood risk anomalies exist during ENSO years in basins spanning almost half of Earth's surface. These results are significant for flood-risk management. Because ENSO can be predicted with lead times of several seasons with some skill, the findings pave the way for developing probabilistic flood-risk projections. These could be used for improved disaster planning, such as temporarily increasing food and medicine stocks by relief agencies. [Abstract] El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most dominant interannual signal of climate variability and has a strong influence on climate over large parts of the world. In turn, it strongly influences many natural hazards (such as hurricanes and droughts) and their resulting socioeconomic impacts, including economic damage and loss of life. However, although ENSO is known to influence hydrology in many regions of the world, little is known about its influence on the socioeconomic impacts of floods (i.e., flood risk). To address this, we developed a modeling framework to assess ENSO's influence on flood risk at the global scale, expressed in terms of affected population and gross domestic product and economic damages. We show that ENSO exerts strong and widespread influences on both flood hazard and risk. Reliable anomalies of flood risk exist during El Niño or La Niña years, or both, in basins spanning almost half (44%) of Earth's land surface. Our results show that climate variability, especially from ENSO, should be incorporated into disaster-risk analyses and policies. Because ENSO has some predictive skill with lead times of several seasons, the findings suggest the possibility to develop probabilistic flood-risk projections, which could be used for improved disaster planning. The findings are also relevant in the context of climate change. If the frequency and/or magnitude of ENSO events were to change in the future, this finding could imply changes in flood-risk variations across almost half of the world's terrestrial regions.
@article{wardStrongInfluenceNino2014,
  title = {Strong Influence of {{El Niño Southern Oscillation}} on Flood Risk around the World},
  author = {Ward, Philip J. and Jongman, Brenden and Kummu, Matti and Dettinger, Michael D. and Sperna Weiland, Frederiek C. and Winsemius, Hessel C.},
  date = {2014-11},
  journaltitle = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
  volume = {111},
  pages = {15659--15664},
  issn = {1091-6490},
  doi = {10.1073/pnas.1409822111},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1409822111},
  abstract = {[Significance] 

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects hydrological processes around the globe. However, little is known about its influence on the socioeconomic impacts of flooding (i.e., flood risk). We present, to our knowledge, the first global assessment of ENSO's influence on flood risk in terms of economic damage and exposed population and gross domestic product. We show that reliable flood risk anomalies exist during ENSO years in basins spanning almost half of Earth's surface. These results are significant for flood-risk management. Because ENSO can be predicted with lead times of several seasons with some skill, the findings pave the way for developing probabilistic flood-risk projections. These could be used for improved disaster planning, such as temporarily increasing food and medicine stocks by relief agencies. [Abstract] 

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most dominant interannual signal of climate variability and has a strong influence on climate over large parts of the world. In turn, it strongly influences many natural hazards (such as hurricanes and droughts) and their resulting socioeconomic impacts, including economic damage and loss of life. However, although ENSO is known to influence hydrology in many regions of the world, little is known about its influence on the socioeconomic impacts of floods (i.e., flood risk). To address this, we developed a modeling framework to assess ENSO's influence on flood risk at the global scale, expressed in terms of affected population and gross domestic product and economic damages. We show that ENSO exerts strong and widespread influences on both flood hazard and risk. Reliable anomalies of flood risk exist during El Niño or La Niña years, or both, in basins spanning almost half (44\%) of Earth's land surface. Our results show that climate variability, especially from ENSO, should be incorporated into disaster-risk analyses and policies. Because ENSO has some predictive skill with lead times of several seasons, the findings suggest the possibility to develop probabilistic flood-risk projections, which could be used for improved disaster planning. The findings are also relevant in the context of climate change. If the frequency and/or magnitude of ENSO events were to change in the future, this finding could imply changes in flood-risk variations across almost half of the world's terrestrial regions.},
  keywords = {*imported-from-citeulike-INRMM,~INRMM-MiD:c-13419293,~to-add-doi-URL,el-nino,feedback,floods,global-scale,risk-assessment,southern-oscillation,statistics},
  number = {44}
}

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