The threat of flooding along the Thames Estuary is an issue of increasing importance.

Authors Avatar

The threat of flooding along the Thames Estuary is an issue of increasing importance. At present, around 1.5 million people live in areas at risk of flooding in London. There are also many people who work, visit or travel through these potentially vulnerable areas. The number of people at risk is likely to increase as development continues to take place on floodplains and low lying regions, and the threats associated with global warming, such as sea level rise and storm events, continue to intensify.

Causes of potential flooding in the London estuary fall into two different categories: Human and Physical. The human category are causes provoked by humans, these would not have occurred if humans were not present. Physical causes are natural and would have occurred wherever or not there was human inhabitant.

The human causes are as followed:

  • 120,000 new homes are to be built in the flood plains (13 of 14 zones in the prime gate way are at risk of flooding). In order to build these homes deforestation had to have taken place. This reduces interception and increases surface run off. This leads to soil erosion. River channels fill with soil, the capacity of the river is reduced and flooding occurs.
  • 38 underground and docklands light stations are underground. This reduces through flow and ground water flow as the ground has been dug up and covered in impermeable rock. These underground buildings use up space where water could have been stored. This leaves more surface water.
  • Consequence of global warming is increased precipitation intensity in the Thames, therefore greater chance of fluvial flooding. Research suggests by 2080, summer rainfall could decrease by 50% and winter rainfall increase by 30%. Added with tidal surges in October to April, this can trigger extreme water levels. This means the ground will be to hard for water to flow through in the summer and in the winter the ground will be to wet for more water to be absorbed.
Join now!

The physical causes consist of:

  • Tidal and river surges these may be more sever then the ones face to regally.
  • Consurge may occur at certain water levels.
  • Threat of heavy rains is also high, there can be fluvial and tracheal rain.
  • Typical; spring tide can raise levels by up to 6 meters which in turn means up to 100 squared kilometres of London is bellow the high tide level.

These to factors the first human and the second physical:

  • Significant impact of sea level rise due to climate change
  • The south-eastern tip ...

This is a preview of the whole essay