Table 9. Lessons learned in dealing with climatic extremes.
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Category |
Lessons learned |
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General lessons learned in dealing with climatic extremes |
Recent climate variability and change seem to
have increased flood and drought hazards in many regions.
The higher adaptive capacity of the society, the more resources it can provide to cope with extreme events, and the less
tragic are the consequences of climate hazards.
Risk assessment of climatic hazards
is necessary.
Public education and distribution of
information on climatic hazards, e.g., risk maps, etc., are important.
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Lessons learned in dealing with floods |
Floods occur all over the world, even in arid
regions.
A large flood may
recur again soon. As shown by several recent examples, there is a common
misconception among the general public about, e.g., a so-called 100-year flood.
Enhancing water storage, especially underground,
mitigates both types of extremes: floods and droughts.
Structural measures such as building dikes and straightening rivers
also have negative effects, including the shifting of flood problems
downstream, adverse ecological impacts, and high maintenance costs.
There is often a false sense of security and an over-reliance on flood
control works such as levees, reservoirs, etc., which in reality
provide protection only below a certain threshold.
Human experience of a flood tends to reduce the amount of
damage caused by the following flood, especially if it occurs within a short
period of time.
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Lessons learned in dealing with droughts |
It is often becoming difficult to
increase the amount of water in storage because of its decreasing
availability in general, and the adverse environmental and social
impacts of reservoirs.
Intensive groundwater withdrawal may ensure
social and economic development over a long period of time and thus provide an
alternative solution for drought management, although some undesirable impacts
may result from intensive pumping, e.g., water-table depletion, groundwater
quality degradation, negative effects on streams and wetlands, or land
subsidence.
Enhancing water storage, especially underground, mitigates both types of extremes: droughts and floods.
Adequate water management laws could improve
drought preparedness in many regions.
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