XtremRisK — Today's and Future Coastal Flood Risks Under Extreme Events

Abstract

About Flood RiskClimate change and sea level rise, storm surges and hurricanes, sustainability and preparedness are keywords when dealing with safety issues and flood protection along the world's coasts and estuaries. Scientific investigations and political discussions of the related questions are manifold and have looked into various aspects of coastal flood risk. However, the definition of "risk" alone has kept scientists busy all over the world and whilst disputes about its meaning can be found in literature, an easy-to-apply generic definition is yet simply not available.The term "risk" has been developed involving a wide range of disciplines all of which seem to have different viewpoints and definitions of risk. It is therefore inevitable to define its meaning before commencing any risk assessment or risk management attempts. The papers in this issue deal with various aspects of coastal flood risk in general and most of them use an engineering approach to risk which is defined here as the probability of a flood times its consequences. Whilst this seems a straightforward definition it implies numerous questions which have not been answered and some of which have not even been addressed yet. What con-1502001-1