Verified Document

Greenhouse Gases And Flooding Essay

Related Topics:

¶ … Risk of on Floodplains Flooding is a natural phenomenon, occurring when the build-up in a body of water leads to a discharge which is greater than containment capacity (Paul and Rashid 13). A floodplain is an area located next to the body of water which is usually dry but prone to flooding when the water levels rise beyond the capacity of the river, stream, or other body of water (OAS 1; National Geographic 1). While it is a natural phenomenon, governments and insurance companies view flooding and a risk, with the potential for communities to suffer when flooding occurs, with short-term impacts resulting in damage to property and forcing people out of affected homes, in the longer term there are the potential health impacts with flood water limiting access to essential resources and frequently holding contaminants (Burby 111).

The issue of flooding has become more pertinent with two main factors impacting on its occurrence. Firstly, an increasing population sizes which are resulting in increased demand for homes. To accommodate the needs, more homes have been built on flood plains. This is not only seen in the U.S., where there are more than 6 million buildings located on flood plains (Burby 111), for example, in the UK more than 100,000 new homes are built every year on floodplains (Allen and Bounds 1). Even where buildings are not been placed on, there may be located in areas where construction reduces the ability for rivers run-off which increases the potential...

The second impact is global warming; increased levels of water resulting from the warmer climate, which includes the melting of glacial ice (Arnell and Lloyd-Hughes 128; Dahlman and Renwick 96). Issues such as increased levels of greenhouse gases as a result of emission following the burning of fossil fuels are a major impact (Dahlman and Renwick 95).
This is a major issue due to the rising number of floods that are occurring. As rain levels increase, there is a higher potential for a body if water to excide its capacity. The global rise in temperatures is also increasing the potential for hurricanes and flooding as a result of the increased rainfall and surge tides, which increases risks exponentially in hurricane areas such as Florida and Texas (Arnell and Lloyd-Hughes 128). This has led to a position where over the preceding five years, all fifty states in…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Allen, K, and A Bounds. "UK Building 10,000 Homes a Year on Floodplains." Fiancial Times 2015. Web. <https://www.ft.com/content/bfa49cb0-acbf-11e5-b955-1a1d298b6250>.

Arnell, N W, and B. Lloyd-Hughes. "The Global-Scale Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources and Flooding under New Climate and Socio-Economic Scenarios." Climatic Change 122.1 (2014): 127 -- 140. Print.

Burby, R J. "Flood Insurance and Floodplain Management: The U.S. Experience." Global Environmental Change Part B: Environmental Hazards 3.3 -- 4 (2001): 111 -- 122. Print.

Dahlman, Carl H., and William H. Renwick. Introduction to Geography: People, Places & Environment. Boston, MA: Pearson Higher Education, 2014. Print.
FloodSmart.gov. "Flood Facts." N.p., 2016. Web. .
National Geographic. "Floods." N.p., 2016. Web. <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/floods-profile/>.
OAS. "Chapter 8 - Floodplain Definition and Flood Hazard Assessment." N.p., 2016. Web. <https://www.oas.org/dsd/publications/Unit/oea66e/ch08.htm>.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Greenhouse Gases Increased Greenhouse Gases Will Have
Words: 655 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Greenhouse Gases Increased greenhouse gases will have a significant effect on the earth in the coming 10-20 years. Greenhouse gases are emitted through a number of activities, including the combustion of fossil fuels and from the flatulence of livestock. The gases rise in the atmosphere and form a layer that traps heat into the lower levels of the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect results in a warming of the surface-level air, which

Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming
Words: 1236 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming The modern world, while no doubt has provided us with immense luxuries and facilities, it has also come at a cost that our future generation will have to pay. The modernization of our world has meant that our towns and cities expand more and more, and increasingly greater pressure is being put on our planet; this is true, not only in terms of the demands for

Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect Are
Words: 657 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Global warming and the greenhouse effect are realities of contemporary living. These phenomena are the result of humankind's lack of stewardship of the environment which put a tremendous strain on nature and every living species thereto. The greenhouse effect is one of the culprits causing global warming and although it is a "natural occurrence that helps regulate the temperature of our planet (EPA 2010)," there are negative effects occurring of

Environmental Isses Explain the Greenhouse
Words: 658 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

its environmentally friendly replacement (Pollan, 2008, p.1). but, Pollan argues: "for us to wait for legislation or technology to solve the problem of how we're living our lives suggests we're not really serious about changing (Pollan, 2008, p.2). Pollan hopes that soon, "Driving an S.U.V. Or eating a 24-ounce steak or illuminating your McMansion like an airport runway at night might come to be regarded as outrages to human

Social Ecology of Health Promotion
Words: 2664 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

Social Ecology of Health Promotion Module 05 Question 01: explain the rationale behind the federal government's approach to regulatory containments in food. The federal government's approach in relation to the regulation of the containments in food, aims at protecting the consumers on food insecurity through elimination of food pathogens. It is the role of the government to enhance the health system and conditions of its citizens through adoption and implementation of various

Cap and Trade Policy: In the Past
Words: 1322 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Cap and Trade Policy: In the past few years, there has been solid scientific evidence that global warming or climate change is taking place. This has contributed to the birth of carbon emissions trading within the European region and the enactment of several mitigation initiatives at the state level. These measures have in turn exerted pressure on the federal government to control the emission of carbon dioxide, which has reached fever

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now