Evolution of Floods: From Ancient Times to the Present Times (ca 7600 BC to the Present) and the Future

Abstract

Floods are one of the most dangerous natural disasters, causing great destruction, damage, and even fatalities worldwide. Flooding is the phenomenon of a sudden increase or even slow increase in the volume of water in a river or stream bed as the result of several possible factors: heavy or very long precipitation, melting snowpack, strong winds over the water, unusually high tides, tsunamis, or the failure of dams, gages, detention basins, or other structures that hold back water. To gain a better understanding of flooding, it is necessary to examine evidence, search for ancient wisdom, and compare flood-management practices in different regions in a chronological perspective. This study reviews flood events caused by rising sea levels and erratic weather from ancient times to the present. In addition, this review contemplates concerns about future flood challenges and possible countermeasures. Thus, it presents a catalogue of past examples in order to present a point of departure for the study of ancient floods and to learn lessons for preparation for future flood incidents including heavy rainfalls, particularly in urbanized areas. The study results show that ancient societies developed multifaceted technologies to cope with floods and many of them are still usable now and may even represent solutions and measures to counter the changing and increasingly more erratic weather of the present.

A Review of Event-Based Conceptual Rainfall-Runoff Models: A Case for Australia

“…This review paper, which aimed to promote a better understanding of the principal approaches of the commonly adopted rainfall-runoff models in Australia, concludes with the hope that future generations will enthusiastically meet the new emerging research needs in rainfall-runoff modelling (e.g., incorporation of climate change, uncertainty analysis, and artificial intelligence-based techniques). Rainfall-runoff models should be made more versatile so that they can incorporate land-use changes and rainwater harvesting to manage floods [125]. A future review study on the selected hydrological models should focus on applying these models to a number of selected catchments and examine their performances in estimating the observed design flood hydrographs.…”

The Importance of Nonconventional Water Resources under Water Scarcity

“…The collected water, from rooftops and non-rooftop areas, can be used in settlements and cultivated areas [60,61]. Besides water supply, it can protect areas from flooding due to extreme precipitation events [62,63]. Rain harvesting, since it is a low-cost and low-risk technology [64][65][66], has great potential for both developed and developing countries [67].…”

Petroleum Discovery, Utilization and Processing in the World and Nigeria: A Comprehensive Literature Review

“…Today, enormous quantities of asphalt are discovered nearby, indicating that there was once a source of the substance. 6 The Western world until the end of the 20 th century was known for killing whales to produce oil, which was very important due to its versatility. 7 When oil was needed to light lamps or for other purposes, the whales' lungs were heated.…”