Coastal flood damage could soar to $1tn a year by 2050
Source: The Guardian
Coastal flood damage could soar to 1tn a year by 2050
Mark Tran
theguardian.com, Tuesday 20 August 2013 17.54 BST
Flood damage in 136 of the world's largest coastal cities could soar to $1tn (£640bn) a year by 2050, because of climate change combined with rapid population increases, economic growth, and subsiding land, according to a study.
The report by Nature Climate Change says the cities at greatest risk, as measured by annual average flood losses, are Guangzhou (China), Miami (US), New York (US), New Orleans (US), Mumbai (India), Nagoya (Japan), Tampa-St Petersburg (US), Boston (US), Shenzen (China) and Osaka-Kobe (Japan).
Owing to their high wealth and low flood protection, Miami, New York and New Orleans comprise 31% of total losses. Adding Guangzhou, the four top cities account for 43% of global losses as of 2005, when the cost of worldwide flood damage was an estimated $6bn a year.
Total dollar cost is one way to assess risk; another is to look at annual losses as a percentage of a city's wealth, a proxy for local vulnerability. Using this measure, Guangzhou, Guayaquil (Ecuador), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast) are among the most vulnerable.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/aug/20/coastal-flood-damage-2050