Rivers Top Trumps

Scientists at the Earth Arcade, hosted by the Energy and Environment Institute, University of Hull conduct research on the impact of human activity and climate change on rivers and flooding.

They have created this engaging Rivers Top Trumps pack. Each player is dealt a number of rivers and chooses a category about their river that they think will win against their opponent. The river categories express a wide range of important river characteristics, whilst also highlighting the risks associated with even the smallest rivers.

• Length – in kilometres (km) from its source to mouth
• Flow discharge – mean annual volume (km3) of water discharged to the sea, as measured at the closest recording station to the river mouth
• Flood risk – index based on the number of people that could be affected by a large magnitude flood event (with a 1% chance of occurring in any given year)
• Deadly animals – index score, out of 100, based on the number of animals living in and around the river that have the potential to harm humans.
• Countries – the number of countries the river flows through.