14:02
COP29 and COP30 High-Level Champions meet for first time in Bonn
The second day of the annual June Climate Meetings in Bonn focused on preparations for the upcoming COP30 conference.
Cities face 'whiplash' of floods, droughts as temperatures rise, study warns
Reuters
A WaterAid study finds major cities swinging between droughts and floods as climate change disrupts water cycles. Asia faces more floods, while Europe and the Middle East dry out. Cities like Hangzhou and Jakarta suffer extreme shifts, urging urgent infrastructure adaptation.
The weather in some of the world's most densely populated cities is swinging from droughts to floods and back again as rising temperatures play havoc with the global water cycle, a study commissioned by the charity WaterAid showed on Wednesday.
South and Southeast Asia face the strongest wetting trends, while Europe, the Middle East and North Africa are becoming ever drier, researchers found in a study of 42 years of weather data drawn from more than 100 of the world's most populous cities.
"There will be winners and losers associated with climate change," said Michael Singer of the Water Research Institute at Cardiff University, one of the authors of the study. "It's already happening."
China's eastern city of Hangzhou and Indonesia's capital of Jakarta topped the list of cities suffering from "climate whiplash", or a rapid succession of prolonged floods and droughts, the study showed.
As much as 15% of the cities surveyed also faced the worst of both worlds, with extreme flood and drought risks rising at the same time, among them the Texan city of Dallas, the Chinese commercial hub of Shanghai and Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.
"You can't just assume that every place can have a similar response to atmospheric warming," added Singer. "It doesn't care who you are, whether you're wealthy or poor or you have great infrastructure or not."
China's coastal city of Hangzhou set a record with more than 60 days of extreme high temperatures last year, and was also hit by severe floods that forced tens of thousands to evacuate.
A fifth of the cities have seen a reversal in climate extremes, with the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo and the Indian financial hub of Mumbai "flipping" to become far wetter, while the Egyptian capital of Cairo and Hong Kong are steadily drier.
Many cities that built infrastructure either to maximise scarce water supplies or mitigate flood damage are now facing entirely different circumstances, and will need to invest to adapt, Singer warned.
The few experiencing favourable changes include the Japanese capital of Tokyo, London and China's southern Guangzhou, which had significantly fewer wet and dry months over the period from 2002 to 2023 than in the two prior decades.
20:00
A wave of Investment: CAF pledges additional $2.5 billion for ocean health
The Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) announced Saturday a significant boost to its commitment to ocean health, pledging an additional $2.5 billion in investments aimed at protecting marine ecosystems and fostering sustainable blue economic activities.
14:20
Climate
Cities are sinking: A global crisis beneath our feet
While the world's attention is often captured by rising sea levels, another critical environmental crisis is unfolding beneath our feet: land subsidence.
22:15
South Caucasus
Environmental crisis in the South Caucasus: Armenia's mining pollution endangers regional water resources and health
Armenia's unchecked mining pollution poses a severe environmental crisis, imperilling water resources and health across the South Caucasus, including Azerbaijan. Heavy metal contamination in shared rivers threatens ecosystems and human well-being, demanding urgent international action.
07:00
Sea-level rise will threaten coastlines even if 1.5C climate target is met, scientists warn
Even if global warming is limited to 1.5°C — the goal set by nearly 200 countries — rising seas will still pose a major threat to coastal communities for centuries, scientists say.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment