University of Tokyo Reports Findings in Climate Change (Assessment and mitigation of tangible flood damages driven by climate change in a tropical city: Hat Yai Municipality, southern Thailand)

2021 JUN 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Climate Change Daily News -- New research on Climate Change is the subject of a report. According to news reporting out of Tokyo, Japan, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Climate change-induced floods in tropical urban areas have presented a serious global challenge because of failed conventional stormwater management practices. This research aims to develop a comprehensive methodological framework for flood damage estimation and mitigation, particularly in a tropical urban city.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Tokyo, “In this study, interdisciplinary fields were integrated through statistical downscaling, hydrologic-hydraulic modeling, and the development of flood damage curves. Relationships between tangible flood damage and flood-borne outbreak with flood depths were elucidated to predict future damage. Various flood mitigation strategies were evaluated. Herein, Hat Yai Municipality in Southern Thailand was selected as the study area. The flood simulation was conducted for 2010 and the highest flood damage sensitivity was exhibited by non-commercial buildings due to significant commercial stock damage, which was followed by that observed for detached houses. There was a strong linear relationship between the number of patients infected with leptospirosis and flood depth (R = 0.85). For climate change studies, flood maps for storms with 20-, 50-, and 100-year return periods under the A2/RCP8.5 scenario were generated using hydrological-hydraulic 1D/2D model; these maps were applied with the developed flood damage curves for damage estimation. It was found that reducing flood damage by implementing agroforestry and expanding the main bypass channel provides comparable damage reductions of -25.5% and - 27.5%, respectively, under the worst-case scenario of a 100-year return period in 2040-2059. Therefore, to deal with uncertain climate change situations, the incorporation of structural and non-structural measures is recommended. Such a combination when coupled with an eight-hour flood awareness time can result in a damage reduction of -59.9%.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “A flood warning system was in high demand by residents in the area; however, damage reduction from this measure alone was not high (approximately -17.0%) when compared to that obtained with other measures; consequently, additional measures were needed.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Assessment and mitigation of tangible flood damages driven by climate change in a tropical city: Hat Yai Municipality, southern Thailand. Science of The Total Environment, 2021;789:147983. Science of The Total Environment can be contacted at: Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Science of The Total Environment - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/science-of-the-total-environment/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Allan Sriratana Tabucanon, Dept. of Urban Engineering, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan. Additional authors for this research include Kiyo Kurisu and Keisuke Hanaki.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147983. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Publisher contact information for the journal Science of The Total Environment is: Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands.

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