* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Why Hilaria Baldwin Has Found the ‘DWTS’ Process ‘Embarrassing’ At Times – WFXG

    Hilaria Baldwin Opens Up About the Embarrassing Moments on Her ‘DWTS’ Journey

    Harvest Fest 2025 – yadkinripple.com

    Celebrate the Bounty: Harvest Fest 2025 is Coming!

    Fox News Entertainment Newsletter: Kate Middleton stuns during Trump state visit, Brett James dead at 57 – Fox News

    Kate Middleton Stuns During Trump State Visit; Remembering Brett James at 57

    Lara Beitz to headline Oshkosh show with top comedians at Time Community Theater Sept. 27 – Yahoo

    Lara Beitz to Headline Star-Studded Oshkosh Comedy Night on September 27

    Shakespeare (with a twist) in Grand Junction – Yahoo

    Experience Shakespeare Like Never Before in Grand Junction

    Congress Bill Spotlight: Make Entertainment Great Again (MEGA) Act, Renaming Kennedy Center to Trump Center – The Fulcrum

    Congress Proposes MEGA Act to Rename Kennedy Center as Trump Center and Revitalize Entertainment

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Technology alliance introduces system for stable recycling quality – RECYCLING magazine

    Innovative Technology Alliance Unveils Breakthrough System for Consistent Recycling Quality

    Pepper Pike council considers upgrading technology for streaming meetings, remote meeting participation – Cleveland.com

    Pepper Pike Council Explores Upgrading Technology for Enhanced Streaming and Remote Participation

    How Michelin Uses Technology to Rethink Tire Manufacturing: Interview – Motor1.com

    How Michelin’s Tech-Driven Revolution Is Transforming Tire Manufacturing

    Analysts Offer Insights on Technology Companies: Avnet (AVT), Nvidia (NVDA) and Atlassian (TEAM) – The Globe and Mail

    Experts Share Key Insights on Avnet, Nvidia, and Atlassian’s Future Prospects

    Top Technology Executives Recognized at the 2025 Carolina CIO ORBIE Awards – Yahoo Finance

    Celebrating Excellence: Top Technology Executives Honored at the 2025 Carolina CIO ORBIE Awards

    Gesture-Control Wearables Redefine Human-Technology Interaction – Yahoo Finance

    Gesture-Control Wearables Are Revolutionizing How We Interact with Technology

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Why Hilaria Baldwin Has Found the ‘DWTS’ Process ‘Embarrassing’ At Times – WFXG

    Hilaria Baldwin Opens Up About the Embarrassing Moments on Her ‘DWTS’ Journey

    Harvest Fest 2025 – yadkinripple.com

    Celebrate the Bounty: Harvest Fest 2025 is Coming!

    Fox News Entertainment Newsletter: Kate Middleton stuns during Trump state visit, Brett James dead at 57 – Fox News

    Kate Middleton Stuns During Trump State Visit; Remembering Brett James at 57

    Lara Beitz to headline Oshkosh show with top comedians at Time Community Theater Sept. 27 – Yahoo

    Lara Beitz to Headline Star-Studded Oshkosh Comedy Night on September 27

    Shakespeare (with a twist) in Grand Junction – Yahoo

    Experience Shakespeare Like Never Before in Grand Junction

    Congress Bill Spotlight: Make Entertainment Great Again (MEGA) Act, Renaming Kennedy Center to Trump Center – The Fulcrum

    Congress Proposes MEGA Act to Rename Kennedy Center as Trump Center and Revitalize Entertainment

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Technology alliance introduces system for stable recycling quality – RECYCLING magazine

    Innovative Technology Alliance Unveils Breakthrough System for Consistent Recycling Quality

    Pepper Pike council considers upgrading technology for streaming meetings, remote meeting participation – Cleveland.com

    Pepper Pike Council Explores Upgrading Technology for Enhanced Streaming and Remote Participation

    How Michelin Uses Technology to Rethink Tire Manufacturing: Interview – Motor1.com

    How Michelin’s Tech-Driven Revolution Is Transforming Tire Manufacturing

    Analysts Offer Insights on Technology Companies: Avnet (AVT), Nvidia (NVDA) and Atlassian (TEAM) – The Globe and Mail

    Experts Share Key Insights on Avnet, Nvidia, and Atlassian’s Future Prospects

    Top Technology Executives Recognized at the 2025 Carolina CIO ORBIE Awards – Yahoo Finance

    Celebrating Excellence: Top Technology Executives Honored at the 2025 Carolina CIO ORBIE Awards

    Gesture-Control Wearables Redefine Human-Technology Interaction – Yahoo Finance

    Gesture-Control Wearables Are Revolutionizing How We Interact with Technology

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

How ghost streams and redlining’s legacy lead to unfairness in flood risk in Detroit and elsewhere

March 19, 2024
in Science
How ghost streams and redlining’s legacy lead to unfairness in flood risk in Detroit and elsewhere
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Detroit

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

In 2021, metro Detroit was hit with a rainstorm so severe that President Joe Biden issued a major disaster declaration at state officials’ request.

Nearly 8 inches of rain fell within 24 hours, closing every major freeway and causing massive damage to homes and businesses. The storm was of a severity historically seen in Detroit every 500 to 1,000 years.

But over the past decade, the region has experienced several other storms only slightly less destructive, one in August 2023.

As the planet warms, severe rains—and the flooding that follows—may become even more intense and frequent in cities like Detroit that have aging and undersized stormwater infrastructure. These extreme events put enormous pressure on communities, but low-income urban neighborhoods tend to suffer the most

I am a geomorphologist at the University of Michigan-Dearborn specializing in urban environments, water, historical mapping and flood-risk equity.

My recent research,conducted with graduate students Cat Sulich and Atreyi Guin, has identified a hidden contributor to flooding in older, low-income neighborhoods that have seen a lack of investment: ghost streams and wetlands.

Although we studied Detroit, our research has implications for cities across the United States.

Historic decisions have an impact today

Ghost streams and wetlands are waterways that previously existed but, as urban areas built up, were either buried below the surface or filled in to support development. Detroit has removed more than 85% of the total length of streams that existed in 1905. Most major cities in the United States and Europe have removed similar numbers of streams.

Detroit is also a city deeply affected by redlining—a now-outlawed practice once used by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, a government-sponsored corporation that was created as part of the New Deal, that graded neighborhoods on perceived financial risk.

People living in communities labeled as “high risk” were disproportionately people of color, immigrants and residents of lower socioeconomic status and were systematically denied loans and opportunities to build generational wealth.

These neighborhoods received fewer community investments, including interventions such as stormwater infrastructure and landscape modification, than did higher-wealth neighborhoods.

We looked at whether these decades-old decisions have had any impact on flood risk today and learned that they do.

For this study, we correlated present-day flood risk in metro Detroit with former Home Owner’s Loan Corporation boundaries’ grades. Flood risk was mapped using the First Street Foundation’s Flood Factor, which scores every parcel in the U.S. on a scale of minimal (1) to extreme (10).

We then correlated flood risk to the presence of ghost streams and wetlands, which we extracted from old topographic maps from the United States Geological Survey. The goal was to determine whether a history of waterway burial and/or redlining influenced the overall flood risk of communities today.

We found that flood risk was disproportionately distributed, with historically redlined neighborhoods bearing the greatest brunt of flood risk.

Residents living in communities that were graded as “hazardous” (D) or “declining” (C) in the 1940s are today more susceptible to flood risk than the more affluent A and B communities. Over 95% of parcels classified at extreme flooding risk occur in C and D communities, with less than 4% in A and B communities.

Flood risk increases with the presence of ghost streams and wetlands, with C and D communities having a higher risk. In C communities, the presence of a ghost wetland increases flood risk tenfold, while ghost rivers also increase risk, although by a smaller amount.

The percent of properties in D-graded communities that are located adjacent to the 32-mile-long Detroit River and classified at extreme or severe flood risk is 99.9% if they have ghost wetlands or 95% if they have ghost rivers.

In other words, the combined history of redlining and landscape alteration may still contribute to increased flood risk today. When communities received poor grades, banks, lenders and municipalities neglected those areas’ stormwater infrastructure.

Invest resources where the risk is greatest

If communities want to protect residents from flooding, it’s crucial for them to map and understand their “hidden hydrology.” Few cities have the data to inform residents that they are at greater flood risk because they are living on a ghost wetland or river.

In Detroit, residents of most of the neighborhoods that show a major to extreme flood risk are not required to purchase flood insurance because they are not near an active river. This means residents are unknowingly at risk.

Another benefit to mapping ghost wetlands and rivers is that stormwater management is most effective if it follows natural pathways and processes.

Stormwater engineers frequently refer to this as “nature-based interventions” or “green stormwater infrastructure.”

During a flood, water occupies the lowest areas of a landscape, such as an abandoned stream valley or filled wetland. Those low areas are a good place to build green stormwater infrastructure, such as rain gardens that absorb water or bioswales that convey moving water.

Some solutions can reflect culture or embrace art: Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History installed permeable pavers with a unique West African-inspired design to minimize and manage floodwater following major flooding in Detroit in 2014.

In my view, marginalized communities need to have a strong voice in the search for solutions. Discrimination against these communities helped create the current problem. Listening to them now is key to both minimizing flood damage and beginning to right a historical injustice.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.The Conversation

Citation:
How ghost streams and redlining’s legacy lead to unfairness in flood risk in Detroit and elsewhere (2024, March 19)
retrieved 19 March 2024
from https://phys.org/news/2024-03-ghost-streams-redlining-legacy-unfairness.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Phys.org – https://phys.org/news/2024-03-ghost-streams-redlining-legacy-unfairness.html

Tags: Ghostsciencestreams
Previous Post

March Madness fans dream of a perfect bracket. Can AI give them a shot?

Next Post

Climate change is speeding up in Antarctica

Dynamic Pricing is Fair Play for the 2026 FIFA World Cup – Cato Institute

How Dynamic Pricing Will Revolutionize the 2026 FIFA World Cup Experience

September 22, 2025
White House Touts Rising Confidence In U.S. Economy Under Trump’s Second Term – Yahoo

White House Celebrates Rising Optimism in U.S. Economy Amid Trump’s Second Term

September 22, 2025
Why Hilaria Baldwin Has Found the ‘DWTS’ Process ‘Embarrassing’ At Times – WFXG

Hilaria Baldwin Opens Up About the Embarrassing Moments on Her ‘DWTS’ Journey

September 22, 2025
New Tech Ally Ready to Fight Against Chronic Health Conditions – Sutter Health

Revolutionary Tech Partner Set to Transform the Fight Against Chronic Health Conditions

September 22, 2025
Vernon County Board of Supervisors passes resolution condemning political violence – WXOW

Vernon County Board of Supervisors passes resolution condemning political violence – WXOW

September 22, 2025
Conservation efforts paying off for Yellow River basin ecology – China Daily

Reviving the Yellow River Basin: How Conservation Efforts Are Breathing New Life into Its Ecosystem

September 22, 2025
Gizmodo Science Fair: A New Pill to Treat Schizophrenia—the First in 50 Years – Gizmodo

Revolutionary Breakthrough: The First New Schizophrenia Pill in Half a Century

September 22, 2025
Mental Time Travel: Scientists Explore the Mysteries of Autobiographical Hypermnesia – SciTechDaily

Unlocking the Secrets of Mental Time Travel: Exploring the Wonders of Autobiographical Hypermnesia

September 22, 2025
Laurie Jervis: Santa Barbara Couple Launch Matilija Wines | Homes & Lifestyle – Noozhawk

Santa Barbara Couple Unveils Exciting New Venture: Matilija Wines

September 22, 2025
Technology alliance introduces system for stable recycling quality – RECYCLING magazine

Innovative Technology Alliance Unveils Breakthrough System for Consistent Recycling Quality

September 22, 2025

Categories

Archives

September 2025
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930 
« Aug    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (831)
  • Economy (852)
  • Entertainment (21,730)
  • General (17,183)
  • Health (9,895)
  • Lifestyle (864)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (854)
  • Politics (862)
  • Science (16,062)
  • Sports (21,351)
  • Technology (15,834)
  • World (836)

Recent News

Dynamic Pricing is Fair Play for the 2026 FIFA World Cup – Cato Institute

How Dynamic Pricing Will Revolutionize the 2026 FIFA World Cup Experience

September 22, 2025
White House Touts Rising Confidence In U.S. Economy Under Trump’s Second Term – Yahoo

White House Celebrates Rising Optimism in U.S. Economy Amid Trump’s Second Term

September 22, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version