Vulnerabilities Iceland - Present river flood risk

In Iceland, a large part of river floodings is related to ice jams in rivers; extent and boundaries of such inundations depend essentially on the location and on the nature of ice jams involved, irrespective of discharge estimated at reference gauging sites. Many residents in Iceland , living in a flood area, are not aware of that (1).

Vulnerabilities Iceland - Future river flood risk

Changes in dry and wet spell characteristics in Europe have been projected for 2021–2050 compared with 1961–1990, based on Regional Climate Model simulations under the A1B emission scenario. From the results it can be concluded that significant changes in dry and wet event characteristics are expected with high confidence in the southernmost (mainly France, Italy, and Spain) and northernmost (mainly Iceland and Scandinavia) regions of Europe, respectively. Southern Europe is most probably facing an increased risk of longer, more frequent, severe, and widespread droughts, while northern Europe is facing increased risk of intensified wet events. For precipitation, the most pronounced changes are found for the Iberian Peninsula in summer (−17.2%) and for Scandinavia in winter (+14.6%) (2).

References

The references below are cited in full in a separate map 'References'. Please click here if you are looking for the full references for Iceland.

1. Pagneux et al. (2011)
2. Heinrich and Gobiet (2012)