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🌊Flood Resilience Part 2: Sponge Cities 🧽🏙
🛣🏜 Cities, aka sealed asphalt deserts Our cities are currently build to drain rainwater FAST! With surface sealing by asphalted streets and concrete houses, rainwater is mostly directly converted to runoff. This runoff is then channeled into sewers, which (in case of a mixed sewer) should guide it to a wastewater treatment plant. With increases…
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🌊Flood Resilience Part 1: River Restoration
Climate change and floods According to climate projections, as the climate crisis worsens, the global hydrologic cycle will undergo significant changes, including increased flooding risks. While arid regions will become even drier, wet areas will become even wetter. In mid-latitudes, such as central Europe and continental USA, the overall annual precipitation is expected to remain…
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Conquering Droughts Part 2: (Urban) Rainwater Harvesting
How humans influence droughts Droughts come in different “natural” stages and severities (see last newsletter: 🌧 meterological drought, 🌾 agricultural drought, 🚱 hydrological drought), but humans can exacerbate them. This effect is called “anthropogenic drought”, being defined by AghaKouchak and others (2021) as the enhancement of agricultural and especially hydrological drought through human behaviour. As…
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Conquering Droughts Part 1: Artificial Aquifer Recharge
Preface: Climate change adaptation is only effecive when also commiting to climate change mitigation Definitions: aquifer = groundwater body Droughts and Climate Change Droughts are among the most devastating consequences of climate change, affecting millions of people around the world. Droughts occur when there is unusually low rainfall or water scarcity over an extended period…
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Meterological Drought in Southwest Germany
Recently we have heard a lot about the current drought in Spain and Italy. Rainfalls are missing and rivers are dry. But how are we doing in Baden-Wurttemberg? While its definitely not as severe as in other parts of Europe, some areas are also missing lots of winter precipitation. The plot shows how much water…
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Why climate change matters for Hydrology
