Rhine Flooding Case Study

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Rhine Flooding Case Study

Introduction: -

The River Rhine is one of Europe's largest and most used waterways.

The source of this great river can be found in the Swiss Alps, where

it stretches 1,320km until it flows out into the Dutch North Sea. The

Rhine has a long history of intense flooding and recent devastating

floods in the 1990's have caused considerable damage and are well

remembered by the local population.

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Causes: -

The causes of these forceful floods can be traced back to a number of

different things including human factors such as deforestation, the

greenhouse effect (this is show by the facts stating the 1°C

temperature rise in southern Germany and the winter precipitation in

the Rhine catchment increasing by 40%) and the straightening of the

Rhine for commercial purposes. Humans currently use 80% of the former

floodplains. Roads and railways cross the alluvial areas behind the

protecting dykes; cities and villages have spread to the fertile river

plains. This inundation of the floodplains has caused flooding in the

lower reaches of the river during the period of snowmelts in spring.

In 1995 heavy rainfall struck many parts of Europe, so heavy infact

that some areas experienced it continuously from November 1994 to

February 1995. The snow on the Alps melted quickly and the ground was

saturated due to the heavy rainfall, this meant that further rain was

hastily transported to rivers as overland flow.

Human causes include urbanisation in the Rhine catchment, which has

led to a threefold increase in its built-up areas; the concrete and

tarmac send more water to the river than the fields which they

replaced. Also pressure for use as farmland or building means that the

Rhine has lost much of its riverside marsh and floodplain that used to

hold back floodwater.

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Results: -

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Floods can cause great damage to land and water-related constructions,

which can have disastrous consequences for people and economies, both

short and long-term.

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