52: Satellite Tracking Reveals Increased Global Population Exposure to Floods (2000–2018). Professor Beth Tellman (Chief Science Officer and co-founder of Cloud to Street; Professor at the University of Arizona geography) discusses her peer-reviewed study, pu

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 5 November 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

Satellite Tracking Reveals Increased Global Population Exposure to Floods (2000–2018). Professor Beth Tellman (Chief Science Officer and co-founder of Cloud to Street; Professor at the University of Arizona geography) discusses her peer-reviewed study, published in Nature magazine, using satellite imaging from NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites, equipped with the MODIS optical sensor, to track global flood events. This systematic mapping provides hard data of actual events, augmenting the global flood database, covering 913 observed flood events between 2000 and 2018. Her research identified an increase of up to 24% in the proportion of the population exposed to floods, indicating people are moving faster into flood plains than the general population growth rate. Limitations of the data include satellites being blocked by cloud cover and difficulty tracking sudden events like dam breaks or pluvial events. A significant concern is the underreporting bias of damaging floods in regions like sub-Saharan Africa.
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0:00.0	This is CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor.
0:09.8	Here's John Batchelor.
0:11.8	This is CBS, I on the world.
0:14.1	I'm John Bachelor.
0:15.1	It's a pleasure to welcome the chief science officer and co-founder of Cloud District,
0:20.7	Beth Tellman, who is also a professor at the University of Arizona geography.
0:26.5	We are applying ourselves to the planetary geography for the crisis of flooding.
0:32.2	You will recall recently flooding in China with incomplete results,
0:37.4	causing deaths and dislocation of hundreds of
0:40.4	thousands dislocated, large numbers dead, and a damage to the immediate territory of the floodplain.
0:48.9	But flooding in China is as old as the Chinese emperor.
0:53.3	And we turn to the surprise of flooding in Germany,
0:56.7	a country associated with pastoral farmland, catching the German farmers completely by surprise
1:03.9	one evening, crowding in their second floor or third floor for the damage that was being
1:09.8	done to their village and their way of life.
1:14.0	Those two events lead us to the question of can we anticipate, can we learn?
1:21.9	Professor, a very good day to you.
1:24.2	Your study, satellite imaging reveals increased proportion of population exposed to
1:29.8	floods, appearing in the peer-reviewed Nature magazine, the premier magazine for science in Europe,
1:36.6	matching science here. This is a revelation to me, but you've been watching this story for some
1:42.0	time. So let us begin with your tools.
1:45.4	What is modus?
	...

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