Extreme Floods: A History in a Changing Climate

Floods kill more people and damage more property than any other natural phenomenon known to man. In a changing climate, we no longer experience just floods but a phenomenon known as 'extreme floods'. In his fascinating new book Robert Doe, an expert in flood research, provides a timely and unique insight into why water is fast becoming our biggest global enemy.
August 2004 was one of the wettest months on record in the United Kingdom. London's sewers overflowed, leading to tonnes of raw effluent being forced into the Thames, and the village of Boscastle was devastated by a 10ft-high wall of flash flood water. The year ended tragically, with tsunami flooding in south-east Asia claiming some 225,000 lives. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans as flood barriers failed.
The European Environment Agency reported that 64 per cent of all catastrophic events since 1980 were directly attributable to weather and climate extremes. It is therefore important to ask what is happening to our weather, and what the future holds. Are we really experiencing anything different from what our ancestors experienced hundreds or maybe thousands of years ago? Robert Doe reveals some interesting facts and controversial debates, and looks at both historical and contemporary floods that have changed lives, the landscape and our outlook.