Extreme Floods: A History in a Changing Climate

Floods kill more people and damage more property than any other natural phenomenon known to man. Today we no longer just experience floods – we are experiencing a new developing phenomenon known as the ‘extreme flood’. July 2007 was one of the wettest months on record, with average rainfall for the month up 400 per cent. The city of Gloucester and the surrounding towns were devasteated. A couple of years before the village of Boscastle was devastated by a ten-foot-high wall of flash flood water, and later in the month heavy rain caused thousands of tonnes of mud and debris to be swept on to the A85 in Glen Ogle, Scotland.In 2005 the Asian tsnami struck, killing hundreds of thousands, while later the same year New Orleans was swamped by a devastating flood. What is happening to our weather, and what does the future hold? Illustrated by previously unpublished pictures of modern weather catastrophes, “Extreme Floods” compares past and recent events to give us a timely and important look at the growing change in our weather.