Wetter weather and the rising level of risk to critical infrastructure

The current summer downpours during Net Zero Week are a timely reminder of the increasing extremes in weather precipitated by climate change.

Back in 2021, an international team of experts, known as World Weather Attribution (WWA), conducted a comprehensive analysis of how climate change influenced extreme summer rainfall.

As part of the investigation, researchers predicted that heavy summer downpours may increase by up to 6% by 2040*. Furthermore, by 2050 extreme summer weather events were projected to bring about approximately 25% more rainfall than they do today.**

In the Sweco report ‘Building resilience to rainfall-induced floods in European Cities’, experts found that critical infrastructure failures resulting from rainfall-induced floods pose substantial risks to society, public health, economies, and the environment.

This emphasises the need for comprehensive risk assessment and management around both flooding and critical infrastructure across urban areas.

Our study highlights the importance of a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to building resilience in critical infrastructure as a way forward to a more resilient future.

For successful #UrbanTransition, policymakers, project managers, and cities must collaborate to comprehensively assess and mitigate climate risks, encompassing hazard exposure, asset vulnerability, cascade effects, and impacts on the environment, economy, and citizens.?

Download the report at https://www.swecogroup.com/urban-insight/resilient-societies/resilient-infrastructure/floods-and-critical-infrastructure/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=resiliant-societies&utm_content=critical-infrastructure-uk

*https://www.knmi.nl/over-het-knmi/nieuws/kans-op-zware-regenval-zoals-op-13-en-14-juli-neemt-verder-toe-door-klimaatverandering

**EEA. (2021). Wet and dry — heavy precipitation and river floods. Europe’s changing climate hazards – an index-based, interactive EEA report