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Introduction: In arid and semi-arid regions, the existence of wetlands is very important. The results obtained from various researches have shown that wetlands, in addition to environmental benefits, such as soil stabilization, temperature regulation, reducing air dryness, etc., also have economic benefits for local communities. As their livelihood depends on the wetlands, many local communities have been forced to migrate due to successive droughts and the drying up of the wetlands. Hamon Wetland is one of the natural ecosystems that has had valuable environmental and economic benefits for local communities in the Sistan region, but due to the droughts, many human and financial losses have been caused in the Sistan region. The purpose of this study is to investigate the benefits of the users of the Hamon Wetland when the wetland is flooded and to investigate the damages caused to the users during the drought. Material and methods: In this article, in order to investigate the interests of Hamon wetland users, with the consultation of local communities and previous researches, three occupations of agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry were selected for the purpose of interview. The data used in the questionnaires were extracted and the interests of farmers, fishermen and ranchers were checked by the market price method, the conditional valuation method was used to check the damage caused in the wetland. Results and discussion: The results showed that in the year 2020, the profit from the fishing sector was 7967002800 Rials. The benefits of the livestock and agriculture sectors were 77452923610 and 318165282120 Rials, respectively. The damage caused in 2022 was determined 11,683,454,1600 Rials. Also, the willingness to pay for the preservation and restoration of the Hamon Wetland was 23,445,559,200 Rials. Our findings showed that it is necessary to take serious measures in order to properly manage the wetland (Hamoun Wetland water rights) and creating alternative livelihoods for wetland beneficiaries should be on the agenda. Conclusion: This research showed that the local communities had lots of benefits with the exploitation of the lagoon but the drought caused a lot of damage to them. Therefore, according to the exploitations that took place during the flood of the lagoon, including the use of water for agriculture, the movement of fishermen to catch fish and the harvesting of fodder by ranchers and even the entry of livestock to graze in the reeds can be one of the important factors in the destruction and reduction of water resources of Hamon Wetland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few decades, an increasing economic and social flooding damages trend has been recorded worldwide. Although this situation was initially associated with climate change, recently different institutions and scientific papers have related this trend to two main reasons: (i) a human population increase and (ii) the number of assets located in floodable areas. In this regard, this paper analyses evolutions in flood damages and their causes in a Mediterranean area, the provinces of Alicante and Murcia, between 1996 and 2016. The duration of this period, from a flood risk management policy point of view, is very important because it encompasses one of the most important legislative periods at a national and European level. As a main result, this paper establishes a temporal and spatial pattern related to increases in flood damages and their main influence on coastal areas, respectively, due to certain economic, spatial and temporal factors. As a conclusion, these trends demonstrate the inefficiency of flood risk management policies, especially those connected with spatial planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane directly contributes to air pollution, as an ozone precursor, and to climate change, generating physical and economic damages to different systems, namely agriculture, vegetation, energy, human health, or biodiversity. The methane-related damages to climate, measured as the Social Cost of Methane, and to human health have been analyzed by different studies and considered by government rulemaking in the last decades, but the ozone-related damages to crop revenues associated to methane emissions have not been incorporated to policy agenda. Using a combination of the Global Change Analysis Model and the TM5-FASST Scenario Screening Tool, we estimate that global marginal agricultural damages range from ~ 423 to 556 $2010/t-CH4, of which 98 $2010/t-CH4 occur in the USA, which is the most affected region due to its role as a major crop producer, followed by China, EU-15, and India. These damages would represent 39–59% of the climate damages and 28–64% of the human health damages associated with methane emissions by previous studies. The marginal damages to crop revenues calculated in this study complement the damages from methane to climate and human health, and provides valuable information to be considered in future cost-benefits analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paris Agreement aims to constrain global warming to ‘well below 2 °C’ and to ‘pursue efforts’ to limit it to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. We quantify global and regional risk-related metrics associated with these levels of warming that capture climate change–related changes in exposure to water scarcity and heat stress, vector-borne disease, coastal and fluvial flooding and projected impacts on agriculture and the economy, allowing for uncertainties in regional climate projection. Risk-related metrics associated with 2 °C warming, depending on sector, are reduced by 10–44% globally if warming is further reduced to 1.5 °C. Comparing with a baseline in which warming of 3.66 °C occurs by 2100, constraining warming to 1.5 °C reduces these risk indicators globally by 32–85%, and constraining warming to 2 °C reduces them by 26–74%. In percentage terms, avoided risk is highest for fluvial flooding, drought, and heat stress, but in absolute terms risk reduction is greatest for drought. Although water stress decreases in some regions, it is often accompanied by additional exposure to flooding. The magnitude of the percentage of damage avoided is similar to that calculated for avoided global economic risk associated with these same climate change scenarios. We also identify West Africa, India and North America as hotspots of climate change risk in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few decades, an increasing economic and social flooding damages trend has been recorded worldwide. Although this situation was initially associated with climate change, recently different institutions and scientific papers have related this trend to two main reasons: (i) a human population increase and (ii) the number of assets located in floodable areas. In this regard, this paper analyses evolutions in flood damages and their causes in a Mediterranean area, the provinces of Alicante and Murcia, between 1996 and 2016. The duration of this period, from a flood risk management policy point of view, is very important because it encompasses one of the most important legislative periods at a national and European level. As a main result, this paper establishes a temporal and spatial pattern related to increases in flood damages and their main influence on coastal areas, respectively, due to certain economic, spatial and temporal factors. As a conclusion, these trends demonstrate the inefficiency of flood risk management policies, especially those connected with spatial planning.

Surface level ozone pollution imposes significant crop yield damages. However, the quantification has mainly involved chamber experiments, which may not be representative of results in farm fields. Additionally, the relative impacts of ozone under future climate change and their possible interactions remain poorly understood. Here we attempt to empirically fill this gap using historical county-level crop yield, ozone, and climate data in the United States. We explore ozone impacts on corn, soybeans, spring wheat, winter wheat, barley, cotton, peanuts, rice, sorghum, and sunflowers. We also incorporate a variety of climatic variables to investigate potential ozone-climate interactions. The results shed light on future yield consequences of ozone and climate change individually and jointly under a projected climate scenario. Our findings indicate significant negative impacts of ozone exposure for eight of the ten crops we examined, excepting barley and winter wheat. Meanwhile, corn exhibits to be more sensitive to ozone than soybeans. These results differ from those found under chamber experiments. We also find rising temperatures tend to worsen ozone damages while water supplies mitigate that. We find that the average annual historical damages from ozone reached $6.03 billion (in 2015 U.S. dollar) from 1980 to 2015. Finally, our results suggest that the damages caused by climate change-induced ozone elevation are much smaller than the damages caused by the direct effects of climate change itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We quantify global and regional aggregate damages from global warming of 1.5 to 4 °C above pre-industrial levels using a well-established integrated assessment model, PAGE09. We find mean global aggregate damages in 2100 of 0.29% of GDP if global warming is limited to about 1.5 °C (90% confidence interval 0.09–0.60%) and 0.40% for 2 °C (range 0.12–0.91%). These are, respectively, 92% and 89% lower than mean losses of 3.67% of GDP (range 0.64–10.77%) associated with global warming of 4 °C. The net present value of global aggregate damages for the 2008–2200 period is estimated at $48.7 trillion for ~ 1.5 °C global warming (range $13–108 trillion) and $60.7 trillion for 2 °C (range $15–140 trillion). These are, respectively, 92% and 90% lower than the mean NPV of $591.7 trillion of GDP for 4 °C warming (range $70–1920 trillion). This leads to a mean social cost of CO2 emitted in 2020 of ~ $150 for 4 °C warming as compared to $30 at ~ 1.5 °C warming. The benefits of limiting warming to 1.5 °C rather than 2 °C might be underestimated since PAGE09 is not recalibrated to reflect the recent understanding of the full range of risks at 1.5 °C warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive species have caused severe impacts on biodiversity and human society. Although the estimation of environmental impacts caused by invasive species has increased in recent years, economic losses associated with biological invasions are only sporadically estimated in space and time. In this study, we synthesized the losses incurred by invasions in Asia, based on the most comprehensive database of economic costs of invasive species worldwide, including 560 cost records for 88 invasive species in 22 countries. We also assessed the differences in economic costs across taxonomic groups, geographical regions and impacted sectors, and further identified the major gaps of current knowledge in Asia. Reported economic costs of biological invasions were estimated between 1965 and 2017, and reached a total of US$ 432.6 billion (2017 value), with dramatic increases in 2000-2002 and in 2004. The highest costs were recorded for terrestrial ectotherms, for species estimated in South Asia, and for species estimated at the country level, and were related to more than one impacted sector. Two taxonomic groups with the highest reported costs were insects and mammals, and two countries with the highest costs were India and China. Non-English data covered all of 12 taxonomic groups, whereas English data only covered six groups, highlighting the importance of considering data from non-English sources to have a more comprehensive estimation of economic costs associated with biological invasions. However, we found that the estimation of economic costs was lacking for most Asian countries and for more than 96% of introduced species in Asia. Further, the estimation is heavily biased towards insects and mammals and is very limited concerning expenditures on invasion management. To optimize the allocation of limited resources, there is an important need to better and more widely study the economic costs of invasive alien species. In this way, improved cost reporting and more collaborations between scientists and stakeholders are needed across Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barren ground and sites with low coverage by vegetation (e.g., dunes, soil surfaces, dry lakes, and riverbeds) are the main source areas of sand and dust storms (SDS). The understanding of causes, processes (abrasion, deflation, transport, deposition), and influencing factors of sandy and dusty particles moving by wind both in the boundary layer and in the atmosphere are basic prerequisites to distinguish between SDS. Dust transport in the atmosphere modulates radiation, ocean surface temperature, climate, as well as snow and ice cover. The effects of airborne particles on land are varied and can cause advantages and disadvantages, both in source areas and in sink or deposition areas, with disturbances of natural environments and anthropogenic infrastructure. Particulate matter in general and SDS specifically can cause severe health problems in human respiratory and other organs, especially in children. Economic impacts can be equally devastating, but the costs related to SDS are not thoroughly studied. The available data show huge economic damages caused by SDS and by the mitigation of their effects. Management of SDS-related hazards utilizes remote sensing techniques, on-site observations, and protective measures. Integrated strategies are necessary during both the planning and monitoring of these measures. Such integrated strategies can be successful when they are developed and implemented in close cooperation with the local and regional population and stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the resolution of the problem of managing flood risk with the aim of effective management focusing on reducing flood risks and thus increasing the measure of flood protection. It is elaborated in the sense of currently valid Slovak legislation in the field of flood protection, primarily according to the Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks. Assessment of potential flood damage is carried out for the town of Medzev, which was in the scope of preliminary assessment of flood risk in Slovakia evaluated as an area with an existing potentially significant risk of flood. Given the preliminary results, we can state that in the studied location of Medzev the construction of flood protection measures makes sense, mainly in relation to the protection of property.

The economic and mortality impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been widely discussed, but there is limited evidence on their relationship across demographic and geographic groups. We use publicly available monthly data from January 2011 through April 2020 on all-cause death counts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and employment from the Current Population Survey to estimate excess all-cause mortality and employment displacement in April 2020 in the United States. We report results nationally and separately by state and by age group. Nationally, excess all-cause mortality was 2.4 per 10,000 individuals (about 30% higher than reported COVID deaths in April) and employment displacement was 9.9 per 100 individuals. Across age groups 25 y and older, excess mortality was negatively correlated with economic damage; excess mortality was largest among the oldest (individuals 85 y and over: 39.0 per 10,000), while employment displacement was largest among the youngest (individuals 25 to 44 y: 11.6 per 100 individuals). Across states, employment displacement was positively correlated with excess mortality (correlation = 0.29). However, mortality was highly concentrated geographically, with the top two states (New York and New Jersey) each experiencing over 10 excess deaths per 10,000 and accounting for about half of national excess mortality. By contrast, employment displacement was more geographically spread, with the states with the largest point estimates (Nevada and Michigan) each experiencing over 16 percentage points employment displacement but accounting for only 7% of the national displacement. These results suggest that policy responses may differentially affect generations and geographies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. Does this translate into increased economic damages? To date, empirical assessments of damage trends have been inconclusive. Our study demonstrates a temporal increase in extreme damages, after controlling for a number of factors. We analyze event-level data using quantile regressions to capture patterns in the damage distribution (not just its mean) and find strong evidence of progressive rightward skewing and tailfattening over time. While the effect of time on averages is hard to detect, effects on extreme damages are large, statistically significant, and growing with increasing percentiles. Our results are consistent with an upwardly curved, convex damage function, which is commonly assumed in climate-economics models. They are also robust to different specifications of control variables and time range considered and indicate that the risk of extreme damages has increased more in temperate areas than in tropical ones. We use simulations to show that underreporting bias in the data does not weaken our inferences; in fact, it may make them overly conservative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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As the Earth warms, carbon sinks on land and in the ocean will weaken, thereby increasing the rate of warming. Although natural mechanisms contributing to this positive climate-carbon feedback have been evaluated using Earth system models, analogous feedbacks involving human activities have not been systematically quantified. Here we conceptualize and estimate the magnitude of several economic mechanisms that generate a carbon-climate feedback, using the Kaya identity to separate a net economic feedback into components associated with population, GDP, heating and cooling, and the carbon intensity of energy production and transportation. We find that climate-driven decreases in economic activity (GDP) may in turn decrease human energy use and thus fossil fuel CO2 emissions. In a high radiative forcing scenario, such decreases in economic activity reduce fossil fuel emissions by 13% this century, lowering atmospheric CO2 by over 100 ppm in 2100. The natural carbon-climate feedback, in contrast, increases atmospheric CO2 over this period by a similar amount, and thus, the net effect including both feedbacks is nearly zero. Our work highlights the importance of improving the representation of climate-economic feedbacks in scenarios of future change. Although the effects of climate warming on the economy may offset weakening land and ocean carbon sinks, a loss of economic productivity will have high societal costs, potentially increasing wealth inequity and limiting resources available for effective adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • FloodRisk GIS freeware was used to analyse flood damages in flat urban areas with complex geometries. • An uncertainty analysis connected with historical damage data was conducted. • The influence of the model parameters on the uncertainty was quantified. • Damage functions are mainly responsible for uncertainty in the study. • Adding knowledge on local characteristics can considerably reduce the uncertainties. Abstract The considerable increase in flood damages in Europe in recent decades has shifted attention from flood protection to flood risk management. Assessments of expected damage provide critical information for flood risk management efforts. The evaluation of potential damages under different flood scenarios through quantification of their ability to provide relative short-, medium- and long-term risk reduction, supports decision-makers in discriminating among several alternative mitigation actions. End-users should be aware of, and knowledgeable about, the limitations and uncertainties of such analyses, as well-informed decisions regarding efficient and sustainable flood risk management will become increasingly relevant under future climate and socio-economic changes. In this context, a method was developed to identify and quantify the role of the input parameters in the uncertainty of the potential flood economic damage assessment in urban areas with low sloping/flat terrain and complex topography using a GIS-based, free and open-source software called Floodrisk. Sets of plausible input parameters for the model’s two flood loss modelling subroutines (hydraulic modelling and damage estimation) were dynamically combined to quantify the contribution of their inner parameters to the total damage assessment uncertainty. To estimate the contributions of each input to overall model uncertainty, the combination of input parameters that minimized the error in the spatial distribution assessment of the extensive damages affecting (downtown) Albenga (Italy), enumerated after the historical Centa River flood of November 5, 1994, was taken as a reference. In this specific case, a high epistemic uncertainty for the damage estimation module was noted for the specific type and form of the damage functions used. In the absence of region-specific depth-damage functions, the vulnerability curves were adapted from a range of geographic and socio-economic studies. Given the strong dependence of model uncertainty and sensitivity to local characteristics, the epistemic uncertainty associated with the risk estimate was reduced by introducing additional information into the risk analysis. Implementing newly developed site-specific curves and a more detailed classification of the construction typology of the buildings at risk, led to a substantial decrease in modelling uncertainty, along with a decrease in the sensitivity of the flood loss estimation to the uncertainty in the depth-damage function input parameter. These findings indicated the need to produce and openly disseminate data in order to develop micro-scale risk analysis through site-specific vulnerability curves. Moreover, this study highlighted the urgent need for research on the development and implementation of methods and models for the assimilation of uncertainties in decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores ways to lower the cost of eradicating harmful invasive species. Topics discussed include biological invaders and the risk associated with them have increased mainly due to rapid human population growth and mobility coupled with radical alteration of ecosystems; risk associated with rapid human population growth and radical alteration of ecosystem across the globe; and invasion threats indication for damages on agriculture worldwide with major food-producing nations.

The article deals with the resolution of the problem of managing flood risk with the aim of effective management focusing on reducing flood risks and thus increasing the measure of flood protection. It is elaborated in the sense of currently valid Slovak legislation in the field of flood protection, primarily according to the Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks. Assessment of potential flood damage is carried out for the town of Medzev, which was in the scope of preliminary assessment of flood risk in Slovakia evaluated as an area with an existing potentially significant risk of flood. Given the preliminary results, we can state that in the studied location of Medzev the construction of flood protection measures makes sense, mainly in relation to the protection of property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the economic damages and their temporal dimension caused by oil spills is very important. In the present paper, we analyze the stigma effect caused in fish markets, in the North West coast of Spain (Galicia) after the Prestige oil spill. Specifically, we focus on pelagic fish species which represent a relevant market share in Galicia. The results show that printed media surrounding the accident had a statistically significant role in the evolution of fish prices. Two types of stigma were found: temporal and geographical stigma. Our results conclude that there is persistence of environmental effects after the spill.

We examine whether countries adapt to hurricanes. A spatially refined global tropical cyclone data set is created to test for adaptation. We find evidence of adaptation in most of the world by examining the effects of income, population density, and storm frequency on damage and fatalities. In contrast, there is no evidence of adaptation to damage in the United States, leading to a damage function which is 14 times higher than other developed (OECD) countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Penglai 19-3 oil spill was one of the worst pollution incidents to occur along the Chinese coastline in terms of both the size of the spill and the area polluted with 840 square kilometers of previously clean coastal waters significantly degraded. The current study estimated economic damages from the spill in two economic sectors, the Yantai fishery and the Yantai mariculture business. Estimates revealed that the ecological damage to fisheries and mariculture affected local crustacean species, shellfish, algae, sea cucumbers and sea urchins much more seriously than the adult fish, partly because fish are very mobile and partly because of the submarine nature of the PL19-3 spill. Toxic oil floating on the sea surface created less of a threat to fish, when comparing them with benthos and algae. Therefore, the economic losses were mainly caused by a reduction in the productivity of crustaceans, shellfish, algae, sea cucumbers and sea urchins, totaling as much as 1 1 USD 1.0=CNY 6.2 in June 2015. CNY1239.5 million for 63,044 t in weight. Together with the loss in the fishing sector (i.e., CNY16.85 million), the total economic losses were about CNY12.56 billion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslide is a natural phenomenon widely spread in the Mediterranean. It is a process that shapes the Earth's surface. Landslide events affect principally mountainous areas and zones with cut slopes. Consequences can be catastrophic when they occur in proximity of residential areas. Therefore a landslide event is often a cause of death and economic damages. Risk evaluation, hazard assessment or prediction of landslides represent an interesting field of research. Landslide risk assessment needs for measurements and data processing with specific requirements of accuracy. As a consequence, the development of reliable risk models and prediction systems is a current and important challenge for researchers. In the manuscript, the authors deal with the landslide issue. A risk model for landslide hazard assessment is proposed. Information on landslide triggering events and historical data on previous landslides are used to draw hazard maps for the monitored area. Topographical and environmental information is used to divide the area in several local zones. For each zone, the associated risk level is estimated. A final hazard map provides general information on landslide risk, so to single out hazard situations for exposed population. The model can support the management and planning of suitable interventions and actions to reduce death and economic damages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brand names or trademarks carry incredible economic power and prestige. There is increasing recognition by world bodies that intellectual property (IP), whether manifested in patents, trademarks, copyrights or trade secrets, is highly valuable and must be protected through robust IP enforcement. The USA is an interesting natural laboratory as patent, trademark and copyright litigation battles have been raging domestically for some time. The paper discusses the four main forms of IP assets, the legal remedies that are available to enforce the property rights inherent in each type of IP asset, the basic damages theory relating to each form of IP, and how damages may be calculated when each type of asset is presumed to be infringed. The increased recognition of the value of IP has led to stronger enforcement of IP protection, an increase in IP litigation, and growing policy actions that are focused on how that protection should be manifested. An empirical analysis of how the IP litigation activity in the USA has changed over time is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important aspect of modeling the coupled human–Earth system is how weather and climate affects the economy. In particular, extreme weather and climate events can cause significant economic damages. Hence, there is a need to better understand the relationship between economic damages and extreme weather and climate events. Here, we analyze economic damage data using regression and probabilistic methods. We provide evidence for upward trends for inflation adjusted damages caused by extreme weather and climate events, while damages normalized by wealth have downward trends. We also find that relative to its wealth, Europe is the most affected continent followed by North America and Asia. We also identify covariates which affect economic damages. Multivariate regression models using either socio-economic or climate covariates explain only small amounts of the damage variation while the probabilistic Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) model with covariates fits the damage data well. This suggests that economic damages due to weather and climate extreme events should be modeled using probabilistic methods. Using non-stationary GPD models, we find that mainly population is a significant covariate while also Gross Domestic Product (GDP), global mean surface temperature and modes of climate variability are significant covariates too. • We identify significant trends in economic damages due to weather and climate extreme events. • We identify significant covariates for economic damages due to weather and climate extremes. • We show that an extreme value distribution fits the economic damage data well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the economic consequences of tort reform. In particular, we address two issues. First, we test the relationship between ton reforms and claim severity for an automobile liability incident while controlling for a variety of cost drivers including the presence of no-fault rules, and the impact of a plaintiff's attorney. In addition to examining the effect of ton reforms on total claim severity, we also test their effect on economic and non-economic damages separately. Second, we test the proposition that tort reforms, by reducing the damages available at trial, have reduced the likelihood that an injured party will seek legal remedy. Both aspects of this study are examined with individual data from a large sample of insurance claims from 61 insurers. Our results suggest that many of the reforms have had a statistically significantly effect on total damages, non-economic damages and economic damages. Caps on non-economic damages, collateral source rule reforms, and minor reforms impacting prejudgment interest, frivolous suits, and provisions for periodic payments are negatively related to the value of non-economic claims, while joint and several reform is positively related to the value of non-economic claims. We find collateral source rule reforms and minor reforms are negatively related to the value of economic claims. We find that caps on non-economic damages and minor reforms are associated with a decreased probability to file. We do not find any evidence that joint and several or collateral source rule reform is associated with the decision to file. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hurricanes and flood-related events cause more direct economic damage than any other type of natural disaster. In the United States, that damage totals more than USD 1 trillion in damages since 1980. On average, direct flood losses have risen from USD 4 billion annually in the 1980s to roughly USD 17 billion annually from 2010 to 2018. Despite flooding's tremendous economic impact on US properties and communities, current estimates of expected damages are lacking due to the fact that flood risk in many parts of the US is unidentified, underestimated, or available models associated with high quality assessment tools are proprietary. This study introduces an economic-focused Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approach that builds upon an our existing understanding of prior assessment methods by taking advantage of a newly available, climate adjusted, parcel-level flood risk assessment model (First Street Foundation, 2020a and 2020b) in order to quantify property level economic impacts today, and into the climate adjusted future, using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and NASA's Global Climate Model ensemble (CMIP5). This approach represents a first of its kind—a publicly available high precision flood risk assessment tool at the property level developed completely with open data sources and open methods. The economic impact assessment presented here has been carried out using residential buildings in New Jersey as a testbed; however, the environmental assessment tool on which it is based is a national scale property level flood assessment model at a 3 m resolution. As evidence of the reliability of the EIA tool, the 2020 estimated economic impact (USD 5481 annual expectation) was compared to actual average per claim-year NFIP payouts from flooding and found an average of USD 5540 over the life of the program (difference of less than USD 100). Additionally, the tool finds a 41.4% increase in average economic flood damage through the year 2050 when environmental change is included in the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the trends in economic damages caused by three types of inland floods (flash flood, flood, and heavy rain) in the United States and the variations in related hazard and vulnerability indicators between 1996 and 2016. We explore the underlying mechanisms based on a survey-based dataset maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service. An annual average of 6518 flood occurrences was reported, which caused economic damages of 3351 million USD per year. Flash flood and flood contributed to 53% and 32% of total occurrences and was associated with a larger share of damaging events (SDE). Results show that the higher impacts by flood and flash flood on property and crop are partly attributed to the greater intensity of rainfall. In addition, flood has the highest unit cost of damages. Notably, despite an upward tendency in economic damages by flash floods, no evident change trend is observed for inland floods as a whole. Further analysis shows changes in economic damages by heavy rain and flash flood are mainly governed by the increased annual frequency and hazard intensity, but the change of trend in their vulnerability indicators (i.e., SDE and Damage Per Event (DPE)) is not obvious. Regarding floods, it was not possible to attribute the variations in economic losses to hazard and vulnerability, as no significant tendency is found except for an increasing SDE. Despite limitations of length of records, data collection, and methodology, the difference in economic impacts and the related hazard and vulnerability revealed in this study can help better target future adaptation and mitigation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]