Figure 1. From extreme sea levels to damage. (a) The analysis of extreme sea levels provides parameter estimations for the generalisedPareto distribution. (b) The distribution of sea levels is influenced by mean sea level rise. (c) Flood defence measures, such as dykes, set thethreshold below which any damage is prevented. (d) The distribution of extreme sea levels is combined with the corresponding damage viaa damage function, providing the total damage in the region under study at a certain maximum flood level. (e) From the resulting distributionof total annual damage the expected annual damage and its standard deviation can be derived. (Photographs: “Ilmpegel Ilmenau” by MichaelSander (2006), “Sea” by Dedda71 (2008), “Kilometermarkierung Deich” by Georg HH (2006), and “Nashville Flood” by Eric Hamiter(2010) from Wikimedia Commons – CC:BY-SA.)