Evaluation of Flood Damage Resulting from Climate Change
Highlights
- Inland flooding is a potential consequence of climate change.
- Abt studies quantified and estimated potential inland flooding costs.
- Studies showed where inland flooding damage is likely to increase.
The Challenge
Changes in climate are producing more frequent flooding, longer periods of drought, more intense storms, and rising sea levels. While coastal flooding is often in the news, inland flooding is also of concern.
The Approach
Abt assisted the Environmental Protection Agency with studies to quantify and estimate the cost of additional inland flooding damages due to climate change. These studies included:
- Statistical analyses to evaluate the correlation between regional precipitation and inland flooding
- Spatial analyses to characterize the nature of flood damages across a range of watershed sizes
- The application of extreme value statistics and analysis of hydrologic time series to estimate changes in flood damage from hydrologic model outputs.
The Results
Through these studies, we have shown an increase in the potential for inland flooding damage throughout the U.S. and spatial patterns of where damages are likely to increase in the future.
Focus Areas
Capabilities
Regions
North America