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Yangtze flood controls could have amplified 100-year flood risks
A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says embankments and lake reclamation for agriculture increased 100-year flood magnitudes by 18.0% and 8.0%, respectively.
A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, citing scientists in China and Europe, argues that some flood-management measures on the Yangtze River may have intensified flood risks linked to climate rather than reducing them. The researchers say climate is still the primary driver of flood occurrence, but they found that human interventions, including embankments and lake reclamation, amplified climate-driven flood magnitudes. They report that flood frequency peaked during the Little Ice Age, from 1500 to 1850. According to the study, building embankments and enclosing lakes for agricultural use increased the magnitude of 100-year floods, which have a 1.0% chance of occurring in any given year, by 18.0% and 8.0% respectively. The paper was published on Monday, according to SCMP Economy.
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