Title (Markus): Future climate projections and their impact on flood risk in the Greater Chicago region

Abstract (Markus): Effects of heavy precipitation and floods include damaged buildings, roads and other structures, agricultural losses, waterborne epidemics, and human casualties. To manage our exposure to these natural hazard risks, it is critical to determine the frequency and magnitude of both precipitation events and on-the-ground flooding. This task is particularly challenging in a complex and changing hydro-climatic system such as the Chicago area. The seminar will address several climate change-related issues and present an assessment of future flooding in the Des Plaines River watershed in Chicago, using a weighted ensemble approach.