Study reveals the human health costs of exposure to floods
The cost of severe flooding in the United States is often tallied in economic terms, including a flood's impact on infrastructure.
Dec 18, 2023
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The cost of severe flooding in the United States is often tallied in economic terms, including a flood's impact on infrastructure.
Dec 18, 2023
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Climate change is our planet's most immediate existential threat, and will likely only worsen for the foreseeable future.
Dec 13, 2023
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Cholera has claimed the lives of at least 23 people in eastern Ethiopia, an area hit by major flooding, Save the Children said Thursday, warning that the epidemic could become uncontrollable across the region.
Nov 30, 2023
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With New York's declared state of emergency following flash flooding, there is increasing concern such events will become more common globally.
Oct 4, 2023
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Despite belief in some quarters to the contrary, the bodies of victims of natural disasters or armed conflict rarely pose a health threat to communities, the Red Cross and the World Health Organization said Friday.
Sep 15, 2023
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Natural flood disasters affect more people than any other environmental hazard and hinder sustainable development. These events have far-reaching consequences, including serious health, social and economic ramifications.
Sep 14, 2023
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What initiates chemical intolerance (CI)? In a newly released survey of thousands of U.S. adults, respondents most frequently cited exposures to biological sources, such as mold and algae "blooms," and/or fossil fuels, their ...
Sep 1, 2023
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In early 2022, nearly 200,000 Malawians were displaced after two tropical storms struck the southeastern part of Africa barely a month apart. Sixty-four people died.
Aug 1, 2023
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A new study led by researchers from Uppsala University shows a clear link between economic inequality and mortality during severe flood disasters. Countries with an uneven distribution of income had many times higher mortality ...
Apr 18, 2023
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When Cyclone Gabrielle hit New Zealand in February, it left a trail of destruction across the North Island. At least 11 people died, and more than 10,000 were displaced. Bridges were washed out (35 in the Hastings district ...
Mar 8, 2023
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A flood is an overflow or accumulation of an expanse of water that submerges land. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, which overflows or breaks levees, with the result that some of the water escapes its normal boundaries. While the size of a lake or other body of water will vary with seasonal changes in precipitation and snow melt, it is not a significant flood unless such escapes of water endanger land areas used by man like a village, city or other inhabited area.
Floods can also occur in rivers, when the strength of the river is so high it flows out of the river channel, particularly at bends or meanders and causes damage to homes and businesses along such rivers. While flood damage can be virtually eliminated by moving away from rivers and other bodies of water, since time out of mind, people have lived and worked by the water to seek sustenance and capitalize on the gains of cheap and easy travel and commerce by being near water. That humans continue to inhabit areas threatened by flood damage is evidence that the perceived value of living near the water exceeds the cost of repeated periodic flooding.
The word "flood" comes from the Old English flod, a word common to Germanic languages (compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float). The specific term "The Flood," capitalized, usually refers to the great Universal Deluge described in the Bible, in Genesis, and is treated at Deluge.
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