| 1. |
- Gain, Animesh K., et al.
(author)
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Overcoming challenges for implementing nature-based solutions in deltaic environments : insights from the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh
- 2022
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In: Environmental Research Letters. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 1748-9326. ; 17:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Ganges-Brahmaputra (GB) delta is one of the most disaster-prone areas in the world due to a combination of high population density and exposure to tropical cyclones, floods, salinity intrusion and other hazards. Due to the complexity of natural deltaic processes and human influence on these processes, structural solutions like embankments are inadequate on their own for effective hazard mitigation. This article examines nature-based solutions (NbSs) as a complementary or alternative approach to managing hazards in the GB delta. We investigate the potential of NbS as a complementary and sustainable method for mitigating the impacts of coastal disaster risks, mainly cyclones and flooding. Using the emerging framework of NbS principles, we evaluate three existing approaches: tidal river management, mangrove afforestation, and oyster reef cultivation, all of which are actively being used to help reduce the impacts of coastal hazards. We also identify major challenges (socioeconomic, biophysical, governance and policy) that need to be overcome to allow broader application of the existing approaches by incorporating the NbS principles. In addition to addressing GB delta-specific challenges, our findings provide more widely applicable insights into the challenges of implementing NbS in deltaic environments globally.
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| 2. |
- Caretta, Martina Angela, et al.
(author)
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Water
- 2022
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In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability : Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)
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| 3. |
- Gain, Animesh K., et al.
(author)
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Social-ecological system approaches for water resources management
- 2021
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In: International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1350-4509 .- 1745-2627. ; 28:2, s. 109-124
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the era of the Anthropocene, understanding the dynamic interactions between humans and water is crucial for supporting both human well-being and the sustainable management of resources. The current water management challenges are inherently unpredictable and difficult to control. Social-ecological systems (SESs) approaches explicitly recognize the connections and feedbacks between human and natural systems. For addressing the complex challenges of the Anthropocene, consideration of SES attributes such as causality (or interdependence), feedback, non-linearity, heterogeneity, and cross-scale dynamics is important. In addition, innovative qualitative and quantitative methods such as Bayesian networks, agent-based modelling, system dynamics, network analysis, multicriteria analysis, integrated assessment and role-play games have recently been used in SES research. The overall goal of this review is to gauge the extent to which SES attributes and methods are considered within the current interdisciplinary water paradigm. The paper therefore develops the normative theoretical characteristics of SES in terms of its key attributes (i.e. causality, feedback, heterogeneity, nonlinearity, and cross-scale dynamics) incorporated in the water paradigm approaches. The paper then compares the methods applied in the interdisciplinary water paradigm and examines how they can complement each other. Finally, the paper reflects back on the usefulness of SES attributes and methods for assessing the interdisciplinary water paradigm and makes recommendations for future research.
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| 4. |
- Kreibich, Heidi, et al.
(author)
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Adaptation to flood risk : Results of international paired flood event studies
- 2017
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In: Earth's Future. - 2328-4277. ; , s. 953-965
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As flood impacts are increasing in large parts of the world, understanding the primary drivers of changes in risk is essential for effective adaptation. To gain more knowledge on the basis of empirical case studies, we analyze eight paired floods, that is, consecutive flood events that occurred in the same region, with the second flood causing significantly lower damage. These success stories of risk reduction were selected across different socioeconomic and hydro-climatic contexts. The potential of societies to adapt is uncovered by describing triggered societal changes, as well as formal measures and spontaneous processes that reduced flood risk. This novel approach has the potential to build the basis for an international data collection and analysis effort to better understand and attribute changes in risk due to hydrological extremes in the framework of the IAHSs Panta Rhei initiative. Across all case studies, we find that lower damage caused by the second event was mainly due to significant reductions in vulnerability, for example, via raised risk awareness, preparedness, and improvements of organizational emergency management. Thus, vulnerability reduction plays an essential role for successful adaptation. Our work shows that there is a high potential to adapt, but there remains the challenge to stimulate measures that reduce vulnerability and risk in periods in which extreme events do not occur.
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| 5. |
- Kreibich, Heidi, et al.
(author)
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Panta Rhei benchmark dataset : Socio-hydrological data of paired events of floods and droughts
- 2023
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In: Earth System Science Data. - : Copernicus Publications. - 1866-3508 .- 1866-3516. ; 15:5, s. 2009-2023
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As the adverse impacts of hydrological extremes increase in many regions of the world, a better understanding of the drivers of changes in risk and impacts is essential for effective flood and drought risk management and climate adaptation. However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive, empirical data about the processes, interactions, and feedbacks in complex human-water systems leading to flood and drought impacts. Here we present a benchmark dataset containing socio-hydrological data of paired events, i.e. two floods or two droughts that occurred in the same area. The 45 paired events occurred in 42 different study areas and cover a wide range of socio-economic and hydro-climatic conditions. The dataset is unique in covering both floods and droughts, in the number of cases assessed and in the quantity of socio-hydrological data. The benchmark dataset comprises (1) detailed review-style reports about the events and key processes between the two events of a pair; (2) the key data table containing variables that assess the indicators which characterize management shortcomings, hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and impacts of all events; and (3) a table of the indicators of change that indicate the differences between the first and second event of a pair. The advantages of the dataset are that it enables comparative analyses across all the paired events based on the indicators of change and allows for detailed context- and location-specific assessments based on the extensive data and reports of the individual study areas. The dataset can be used by the scientific community for exploratory data analyses, e.g. focused on causal links between risk management; changes in hazard, exposure and vulnerability; and flood or drought impacts. The data can also be used for the development, calibration, and validation of socio-hydrological models. The dataset is available to the public through the GFZ Data Services (Kreibich et al., 2023, 10.5880/GFZ.4.4.2023.001).
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| 6. |
- Kreibich, Heidi, et al.
(author)
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The challenge of unprecedented floods and droughts in risk management
- 2022
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In: Nature. - : Springer Nature. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 608:7921, s. 80-86
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Risk management has reduced vulnerability to floods and droughts globally, yet their impacts are still increasing. An improved understanding of the causes of changing impacts is therefore needed, but has been hampered by a lack of empirical data4,5. On the basis of a global dataset of 45 pairs of events that occurred within the same area, we show that risk management generally reduces the impacts of floods and droughts but faces difficulties in reducing the impacts of unprecedented events of a magnitude not previously experienced. If the second event was much more hazardous than the first, its impact was almost always higher. This is because management was not designed to deal with such extreme events: for example, they exceeded the design levels of levees and reservoirs. In two success stories, the impact of the second, more hazardous, event was lower, as a result of improved risk management governance and high investment in integrated management. The observed difficulty of managing unprecedented events is alarming, given that more extreme hydrological events are projected owing to climate change.
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