JRBM special issue on flood risk management and resilience

摘要

Flood mitigation continues to be an intense area of research and development; in the last few decades the gap between the flood-related social-economic losses and the advancements in mitigation capabilities has widened. This undesirable situation is mostly attributable to changes in the hydrometeor-ological patterns that, through a complex combination of interacting factors (i.e. climate change, population increase, and accelerated human interventions on the natural landscapes), lead to more frequent and more intense floods. This gap would be even more profound without recent intellectual and financial investments in flood research and mitigation strategies and practices. One major achievement of these investments is a marked improvement in human safety, although the social disruptions and economic losses produced by floods continue to be the highest of any category natural disasters. This continuously evolving situation requires more intense mobilization and integration of resources to enhance our flood-defense capabilities and empower flood-prone communities with the means and knowledge they need to mitigate and build resilience to floods.