Thursday 17 December 2015

1 in 100 year floods every 5 years?


Thinking about the increasing frequency of 'rare' climate events, there was a good explanation of what '1 in 100 year' event actually means. 

This Christmas the people in Cockermouth are clearing up after the 1 in 100 year flood caused by Desmond with a very bitter taste in their mouth. They were told that the last flood was a 1 in 100 year event ... And that was in 2009.

'More or Less' is a great little radio programme on the World Service that tries to explain colloquial expressions and news stories that involve numbers. In this episode they explain 1 in 100 year floods well.

Click Here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0396yn5#play