Roger Choate | September, 2002

Europe is engaged in a huge cleanup and restoration operation after massive flooding of major rivers devastated swatches of the continent

	The recent floods have been devastating for Europe

Ancient cities such as Dresden and Prague were under siege last month as river levels rose to historic levels. The disaster claimed more than 100 lives and the evacuation of tens of thousands of citizens in Germany, Russia, Austria and the Czech Republic.

The blow was particularly harsh for Dresden, which has still not fully recovered from firebombing by Allied forces in 1945. Services at the city's cathedral went ahead even though water was lapping near the edifice. "I am left speechless," Priest Klemens Ullmann said. "We are crying out to God for help."

Climate change: the culprit?
Estimated economic losses in Germany alone amounted to 10 billion euros (about US$ 10 billion), even as many environmentalists blamed climate change as a main reason for the flooding. "Warmer weather fuels natural disasters," said Pier Vellinga, a climatologist at Amsterdam University. "Few places in the world will be spared from climatic disruptions. We can say with reasonable confidence that human-induced climate change is now affecting the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events."

Like everywhere, deforestation continues to contribute in this havoc

Flooding induced by humans - such as global warming and deforestation - now mean that environmental refugees worldwide outnumber political refugees. The human and economic costs are huge.

The Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies calculates that every dollar invested in the country is eaten up by dealing with environmental disasters. In Britain, meantime, insurers refuse to provide coverage for one in 10 households prone to flooding, according to Andrew Simms, policy director of the New Economics Foundation. "Two million lives were saved in the 1990's in Bangladesh through coordinated evacuations," he says. "But it is no longer sufficient to leave disaster management to the specialists. Global warming means, a whole new way of thinking is necessary."

Fewer trees, more flooding
Deforestation is thought to contribute to global warming because trees are an important source of oxygen controlling global temperatures. In addition, trees absorb water from river overflow. Concrete suburbs can't do that. And flood plains that are covered over by unplanned urbanization also increase the chances of indisriminate flooding. The same is true for certain farming practices.

The disasters in Europe, meantime, are giving rise to new debates about accountability. Could the ruling Social Democrats and their Green partners have done more to prevent flooding in the first place? It is believed that the final flood bill could push the German budget deficit above the ceiling allowed by the European Union in which it is a leading member.

Written by Roger Choate at www.cleanganga.com

For more information, visit the following sites:
Dresden: http://www.dresden.de/
Germany: http://www.germany-info.org/
Austria: http://www.austria.gv.at/
Czech Republic: http://www.czech.cz/
Floods: http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/keepsafe/readyflood.html
Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies: http://www.bcas.net/
New Economics Foundation: http://www.neweconomics.org/
Global warming: http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/
Deforestation: http://www.geocities.com/lucilite/Deforestation.html
European Union: http://europa.eu.int/