Posts tagged with 'drought'
Africa’s population is growing faster than any other continent’s and its urban population is expected to more than double by 2050. This urban rapid growth, which is mostly sprawling “horizontal” growth, as the World Resources Report: Towards a More Equal City shows, is combining with climate ...
A New Yorker may not think about the forested Catskills Mountain Range upstate as she pours a glass of water. Londoners probably don’t consider the Amazon rainforest as they watch the rain falling on city parks. And folks in Addis ...
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warns, “India will see increased heat waves and heavy rainfall events, while glaciers will melt further, along with more compound events from rising sea-levels like flooding.” The report further states that “unequivocal human ...
Water for human consumption is increasingly inaccessible, due to poor management, degradation of water sources, the effects of climate change and more. Marginalized groups — such as minorities, rural communities and women — are disproportionately affected by water security issues, and women often play a key ...
Along the Ngong River in Mukuru, one of Nairobi’s slum neighborhoods and home to more than 100,000 people, residents face a dual threat when the rains come. First, the river rises, flooding into streets and houses. Then the water reaches ...
When Cape Town, South Africa, and Chennai, India nearly ran out of water, these two cities managed to avert Day Zero with solutions that were creative and effective but far from perfect. In Cape Town, there were mile-long queues of people waiting for hours for water. ...
Once-unthinkable water crises are becoming commonplace. Reservoirs in Chennai, India’s sixth-largest city, are nearly dry right now. Last year, residents of Cape Town, South Africa narrowly avoided their own “Day Zero” water shut-off. And the year before that, Rome rationed water to conserve scarce ...
Chennai faced a devastating flood in 2015 that killed hundreds of people and displaced many more. Today, the southern Indian city’s four main reservoirs are virtually dry. This crisis is not only due to lack of water. Lack of proper management is ...
Climate change affects poor and marginalized communities first and hardest. These effects are happening now – not in a far-fetched future. Particularly in cities, a lack of access to basic services, a long history of unsustainable urban development, and political ...
In 2014, São Paulo nearly ran out of water. Schools closed, crops faltered and reservoirs were left at a tiny 5 percent of their capacity for the city and its surrounding population of 22 million. It was the worst drought in eight decades. ...
Glaciers do more than feed our rivers and lakes, they also serve as critical savings banks for water withdrawals when other sources dry up. In South America, the glaciers and snowpack that crown the Andes provide slow, consistent meltwater that ...
Cape Town is running out of water. After three years of intense drought, South Africa’s second-largest city is just a few months away from “Day Zero,” the day when the city government will shut off water taps for most homes and businesses. The impacts ...
The Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico, as Mexico City’s wider metropolitan area is locally known, faces a two-fold dilemma. In recent years, the intensity of rains has increased, straining drainage systems and causing severe flooding in low-lying areas. ...
Brazil’s cities, home to 85% of the country’s population, are already feeling the effects of climate change. Intense rains and floods in Rio de Janeiro are causing fatal landslides with high social and infrastructure costs. Temperatures are climbing to record-breaking highs in Porto ...
The worst drought to grip São Paulo, Brazil and neighboring states in 80 years is wreaking havoc on the local population. As of late October, key reservoirs hold less than two weeks’ worth of drinking water. Schools and health centers are closing early, ...
