Understanding the risks from extreme rainfall

Extreme responses to rainfall are very likely to increase under climate change, posing increased hazards to critical infrastructure and the most vulnerable sectors of society. Structures with long life spans require reasonable estimates of the hazards that will be faced now and in the future, necessitating some assessment of future rainfall extremes.

Such challenges are not new. Although future climate conditions may be unprecedented, techniques to optimize water management and minimize risk in more extreme climate regimes are not. Designs that account for future climatic extremes could benefit from other countries' experiences of highly variable extreme rainfall.