Responses to Flooding

Greece's history has been dramatically impacted by floods, which have shaped human existence and cultural advancements in the region. These catastrophic and large scale events are likely the cause of mythologies like Deucalion's flood becoming very prevelant within Greek society, which in turn ushered many people to migrate towards areas of higher elevation. Floods during the Classical era caused agricultural and urban disruptions, which led to ceremonies to please gods like Poseidon, who the Ancient Greeks attributed as the casue of many of the devastating floods that occured throughout their history. As time passed and communities became more adapt to survive in their local environments, they developed ways to reduce the amount of damage that flooding could cause. By enhancing aqueducts and other water management systems over time, flooding became a far more managble disaster to deal with and allowed for societies such as Ancient Greece to shift their focus on developing this social and religious practices.

Recent events like urbanization and deforestation have worsened the effects of flooding in the modern era. On top of that, rising sea levels and extreme weather are two newer concerns brought on by the intense climate change that are predicted to increase risks of flooding even more. This poses a serious issue, especially to places such as the Golf Coast, Asia, and smaller island nations such as the Philippines. Evidence provided by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has projected that by 2100, nearly all areas will experiences at least a 0.5 to 1.0 meter increase in sea level. Future solutions to these looming threats will need to combine contemporary technology with old knowledge. Newer solutions will include green infrastructure, sustainable planning, and improved catastrophe preparedness, all of which continue to progress and develop as society moves forward with developments in technology to accurately track and predict weather.