00:00 Archive
footage of extreme flooding in the
American
mid west (supplied by the CONUS archive)
Exterior
of University of Nottingham
Scientists
at Miniature Rainfall-Runoff facility
c.u.
river model
Wide,
scientists overlooking model
c.u.
Researcher
Interior
of Geography Dept. Library, Prof. Thorne,
Prof.
Clifford and Dr Endfield discussing research
2
shot, Prof. Clifford & Dr. Endfield
Wide
shot of the River Trent from Victoria embankment looking towards
Nottingham
Wide
– blocks of flats by the riverside
Group
of swans
Family
walking on river
embankment
Guide Voice: Flooding – one of the most
disruptive forces of nature, capable of causing extensive physical
damage and loss of human life. Research into how different
societies might be affected by and respond to climate change and
extreme weather conditions has become an issue of global
importance.
At the University of Nottingham in the East Midlands of England
scientists investigating flooding and river management have worked
with collaborators in the United States and Europe to develop more
standardised approaches to flooding issues. Their research suggests
that our problems lie as much with the way we manage our rivers, as
in a significant increase in the amount of flooding.
Nottingham is built on the River Trent and “Trent”
is a variation on an old word loosely translating as
“trespassing” or flooding, so it’s appropriate
that the City’s University is home to some of the
world’s leading experts on flooding and river management.
00:54 SOT: Professor Colin Thorne, School of
Geography, University of Nottingham and leading member of the UK
Department of Trade and Industry Foresight Flooding
Programme – “Flooding’s a natural
phenomenon, its part of the way that rivers and coastlines work and
we have to recognise that. In fact it brings many benefits as well
as dis-benefits and disasters. The key is for people to act in ways
and live their lives in ways that reduce the risk of flooding to an
acceptable level. And we can do that through sensible measures,
sustainable measures that involve managed flooding as well as flood
management.”
01:19 c.u.
Dr Endfield
Wide
of archive documents
Guide Voice: This is born out by Dr Georgina
Endfield’s research into the historical aspects of climate
change and extreme weather.
01:26 SOT: Dr. Georgina Endfield,
Senior Lecturer, School of Geography, University of
Nottingham – “What we’re learning
from the project that we’ve been involved in is that people
have adapted, they have coped and they have responded to extreme
weather events in the past in a very effective way, this
isn’t true, necessarily, of the most catastrophic events
however people do learn to live with extreme
weather.”
01:46 c.u.
archive document (map)
c.u.
archive document (notation)
c.u.
“
“
“
Tilt
down across document
Pan
across copies of Mexican archive documents
Guide Voice: Studying the rich colonial
archives of Mexico, from as early as the 17th century,
she has been able to look back through the historical record to
note periods of extreme weather events as they were picked up in
the documents of the time. There’s obvious proof that we can
learn to live with flooding, so just how much of a problem is
it?
02:05 SOT: Prof. Thorne
– “In terms of environmental hazards flooding is
the most serious hazard that we face globally and every year
millions of people are displaced and hundreds of thousands of
people are killed or injured or catch diseases related to flooding
or flooding incidents. In the UK we have very few fatalities, for
which we should be extremely thankful. But our property damages are
running at about a billion pounds a year, which is a big price
tag”.
02:37 Pull
out from river bird in flight to reveal the Thames Barrier,
London
Wide
shot, Thames Barrier
Ducks
on mud-flats
Guide Voice: It seems that we may be making
matters worse by trying to fight the floods, instead of working
with them. Engineering solutions such as dams and flood barriers
may protect some areas, but can exacerbate the problems
elsewhere.
02:50 SOT: Professor Nick
Clifford, Professor of River Science, School of Geography,
University of Nottingham - “For the
continental United States, for example, reliable estimates indicate
that there are almost 80,000 dams and that more than 90% of rivers
are affected by these dams. Now on the one hand one could see that
as an enormous problem, a natural environment has been heavily
modified, on the other hand it gives us an enormous opportunity to
regulate and control and to almost reproduce natural
characterisitics using these engineering
interventions.”
03:19 Archive
footage of extreme flooding in the American mid west (supplied by
the CONUS archive
Prof.
Thorne and Assistant at flood simulator
c.u.
rainfall on flood simulator
c.u.
river bank collapsing in simulator
Wide
of simulator
Tilt
up from river to waterside tree (River Trent)
Wide
shot of Thames Barrier
Guide Voice: There’s no question that
we’re seeing more intense rainfall and more frequent heavy
downpours than we might be used to. But heavy rainfall events and
serious flash floods have happened before and, while this might be
indicative of climate change the research coming out of the
University of Nottingham suggests that the important thing is learn
to live and work with our rivers - to control them in a way that
sustains as many natural characteristics as we can and to constrain
them only where we absolutely have to.
03:46 SOT: Prof:
Thorne – “Personally I’m very
optimistic about the future of flood management both in the UK and
worldwide. In the UK I believe the government is listening to the
scientists and is serious about developing sustainable approaches
to flood risk management. In other parts of the world the Dutch,
the Americans, the Chinese are all part of our international
network and seem to be taking the threat very seriously. The key is
to disseminate these findings so that policy makers can act on them
sooner rather than later.”
04:19 End
