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A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 31 OcTOber 2019
Study triples population at risk of climate-triggered floods

By SETH BORENSTEIN in elevation in places such
WASHINGTON (AP) — The as Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh
number of people threat- City, Bangkok, Jakarta and
ened by climate change- Mumbai.
triggered flooding is about Five outside sea level rise
three times higher than experts said the study high-
previously thought, a new lighted a problem with
study says. But it’s not be- current data, especially in
cause of more water. Asia.
It’s because the land, es- “This study represents very
pecially in Asia and the significant progress in the
developing world, is sev- understanding of the risk
eral feet lower than what which climate change-re-
space-based radar has lated sea level will cause for
calculated, according to a hundreds of million of peo-
study in the journal Nature ple before the end of this
Communications Tuesday. century,” said Jean-Pascal
So instead of 80 million van Ypersele of the Univer-
people living in low-lying site catholique de Louvain
areas that would flood an- in Belgium. “If hundreds
nually by 2050 as the world or even tens of millions of
warms, this new study finds people are flooded in Asia
the population at risk is or Africa, it will create so-
closer to 300 million people. In this Sept. 4, 2019, file photo, people hold hands and navigate their way through a flooded street cial and economic disrup-
And if emissions of heat- as it rains in Mumbai, India. tions on a huge scale.”
trapping gases continue Associated Press University of Colorado’s
unabated and Antarctic Steve Nerem said the prob-
ice melts more in a worst- elevation is NASA’s Shuttle those areas use airborne against the airplane-gen- lem is real, but he isn’t sold
case scenario, around 500 Radar Topography Mission . lidar radar, which is more erated data in the United on the new model yet,
million people could be at But that doesn’t accurately accurate about true eleva- States and Australia and partly because it is based
risk by the end of the cen- show ground, instead mis- tion. But in flood prone Asia found this computer model on the shuttle radar to be-
tury, according to the study taking rooftops and tree and other places that’s not was accurate, he said. gin with.
by Climate Central , a New canopies for ground with an option, Strauss said. “This is a far greater prob- It does highlight an issue
Jersey based non-profit of an average error of 6.5 feet So Climate Central used lem than we understood,” that needs to be fixed, said
scientists and journalists. (2 meters), said Climate the shuttle radar, artificial Strauss said. “Far more peo- Katy Serafin at the Universi-
Space-based radar says Central chief executive of- intelligence and 23 differ- ple live in risky places today ty of Florida. “The longer we
170 million are at risk in that ficer Ben Strauss, a scientist ent variables to create a than we thought and the wait to address this, the less
scenario. who studies sea level rise. computer model that is problem only multiplies in time we will have to devel-
For big picture global map- For the United States, much more accurate in globally the future.” op adaptive and sustain-
ping of flooding threats, of Europe and Australia, this mapping elevation, Strauss He said the new model able solutions to coastal
the go-to technology for is not a problem because said. They then tested it found “a huge difference” flooding.”q

Dutch construction workers

protest environmental rules

By MIKE CORDER even more trucks from ar- tion and agriculture.
Associated Press riving. In recent weeks, Dutch
THE HAGUE, Netherlands The industry is protesting farmers also have staged
(AP) — Thousands of Dutch government limits on ni- two demonstrations
construction workers con- trogen emissions and rules against government envi-
verged on The Hague on about transporting sand ronmental rules. German
Wednesday to protest re- and earth contaminat- farmers held similar protests
strictions they say are crip- ed with tiny amounts of last week.
Dutch construction workers gather for a demonstration against pling their industry, the chemicals known as PFAS , Maxime Verhagen, chair-
the government’s environmental rules, in The Hague, Nether- latest large-scale demon- which are used in firefight- man of an umbrella orga-
lands on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019. stration against the govern- ing foam, nonstick pots nization for the construc-
Associated Press
ment's environmental poli- and pans, water-repellent tion industry told the dem-
cies. clothing and many other onstrators on Wednesday:
A central park in The Hague household and personal "We want to work. Cabi-
filled up early with trucks, items. net, do something about it
diggers, cranes and con- The protests underscore now."
struction workers in orange how difficult it is for the His organization carried
high-visibility jackets. The Dutch government to push out a survey of its members
demonstration disrupted through reforms aimed at that showed some 308 proj-
traffic around The Hague cleaning up the environ- ects worth more than 3 bil-
for hours, forcing police to ment and reducing emis- lion euros ($3.3 billion) have
block the main highway sions without hurting essen- been affected by PFAS
into the city to prevent tial industries like construc- limitations.q