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Biyong He

Professor Presiado

Geo 001

5 Nov 2017

Flood Occurrence in Brisbane from 1985 to 2011

Caption:

The map shows the time of floods in Brisbane are up to 27 times from 1985 to 2011.
Also, the nearby regions were also implicated. The most serious floods that occurred recently
was from December 2010 to February 2011. A series of flood attacked the capital city of
Queensland-Brisbane. The rainfall started in December 2010 and it lasted for long time which
was caused by intense weather La Nina. The high rainfall broke the record over 100 locations on
December 2011 and the continued large-scale rainfall in January led to the Queensland River
system over the Brisbane River being overcome. The height of Brisbane River reached its peak
of 4.46 on January 13, 2011 due to the rainfall and thousands of people were led to evacuated
(Brisbane Australia).
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Flood Occurrence in Queensland from 1985 to 2011

Caption:

The map represents the majority floods occurred in Queensland. The number of floods
are more than four times up to 27 times from 1985 to 2011 except the small region in northern of
Queensland. In contrast, the number of floods in some regions where are far away from the coast
is not as high as the regions around the coast. The catastrophic floods in Queensland result from
the rainfalls caused by two weather phenomena. One of them is La Nia which is the seasonal
interaction between the Pacific Ocean and Earths atmosphere in eastern Australia. Another type
of weather phenomena is the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds in the tropics which is
forcing ocean water of high temperature comes together in the western of Pacific Ocean.
Therefore, the warm water accelerates the clouds development and increases the chance of heavy
rainfalls(Harper).
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Flood Occurrence in Australia from 1985 to 2011

Caption:
The map shows the flood occurs more often in Australia around east and west coast and
gradually decrease to the central of Australia. What is the reason that floods happen frequently
around coast? According to the ABC news, it states that the temperature of the ocean is raising
up years by years which provides more moisture around the ocean. So that, it means the chances
of strong rainfall occurs more often by around seven percent for each degree of global warming.
Also, the low-pressure systems around the east coast are more than 22 per year, however, there
are not even have changes during the winter time. With the frequency of east coast low-pressure
systems become lower, the chances of heavy rainfalls are likely to increase. Yet, the east coast
low-pressure systems are inconstant and unpredictable. People might think about rainfall
happens so frequently also related to climate change. However, Studies found that there is just
slight effect of climate change on rainfall comparing to climate variability. Nonetheless, it does
not mean the global warming will not affect the world in the future(Pepler). If people live in the
areas where are among the frequency of floods, they should have flood planning. People can
prepare some sand bags and raise up electric panel and water heater and so on to prevent they
will be flood. If people are outdoors, they should try to stay on the higher ground in order to
avoid contact with the floodwater. If people are indoors, keep listening the radio for the updated
information and turn off all the power and water (American Red Cross).
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Source

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/8254976/Au

stralia-floods-what-caused-the-flooding.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-07/did-climate-change-cause-east-coast-low-

storms/7483874

http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/hazards-archive/flood/basics/where

http://www.brisbane-australia.com/2011-brisbane-floods.html

http://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-

emergencies/flood#Before