Global River Flood Risk Under Climate Change

The importance of studying and modeling river floods as global-scale processes is becoming more and more evident. River floods are a major component of weather-related hazards worldwide, and ongoing climate and socioeconomic change can further exacerbate impacts of floods in the future. Reducing flood impacts is now a priority of the global political agenda, and risk modeling frameworks are increasingly used for policy and emergency support and for commercial purposes. In order to review the current state of this rapidly evolving field, here we provide an overview of recent advances in modelling global river flood risk. We introduce the general concepts and methods used to model river flood risk at the global scale and we present a description of some of the most used modeling frameworks, including main scientific findings and relevant applications outside research. Finally, we provide an overview of current limitations and an outlook of ongoing developments of risk models.