Rivers, Floods and Environmental Change
River systems have long been utilised by mankind, for drinking water, transport, waste disposal and leisure activities. As a result settlements are often close to river systems and the pressure on building, coupled with the desire for a ‘waterfront’ view has led to extensive development in river flood plains over the past 50 years.
However, we now face a period of increasing unpredictability in the weather patterns as our climate warms. Associated with this there are predictions of increasing storminess for the UK as a whole and, if this is right, the problems associated with flooding seem set to increase. It is therefore important to understand river systems better and thereby develop the ability to both predict future changes in our rivers and mitigate any detrimental consequences. This lecture will explore the role of rivers in the landscape, why rivers flood and how earth scientists can help predict how river systems are likely to behave as they adapt to climate change.
Listen to 'The Present is the Key to the Past' in our series of podcasts to hear Lynne Frostick discuss what future sea level rise means for our coastlines.
Biography
Professor Lynne Frostick holds the established chair in Physical Geography at Hull. She is a sedimentologist with more than 35 years research experience in various aspects of river dynamics and particle-fluid interactions.. She has published over a hundred research papers and edited 4 books during her career.
She is Director of both the interdisciplinary Hull Environment Research Institute (HERI)and the Environmental Technology Centre for Industrial Collaboration (ETCIC). She was given the Cuthbert Peek award of the Royal Geographical Society in 2005 for her work on advancing the application of physical modelling to environmental problems, and has been President of the Geological Society of London.
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