Unprecedented droughts are expected to exacerbate urban inequalities in Southern Africa

Rusca, Maria; Savelli, Elisa; Baldassarre, Giuliano Di; Biza, Adriano; Messori, Gabriele

doi:10.1038/s41558-022-01546-8

Cited by 32 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 122 publications

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“…For example, in Cape Town, South Africa, measures to cut water demand, such as tariff increases, fines and the withdrawal of 'free basic' provision, were imposed in response to prolonged drought from 2015 to 2018. As a result, poor and working-class households faced severe shortages, whereas affluent households were able to store bottled water or install rainwater harvesting tanks and boreholes 20 .…”

Section: Foster Justice Equity and Inclusion In Water And Climate Act...mentioning

confidence: 99%

As the UN meets, make water central to climate action

Rahman

Mukherji²,

Johannessen

et al. 2023

Nature

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This week in New York City, the United Nations is holding its second global Water Conference -after a gap of 46 years. At the first meeting in 1977, climate change was not even on the agenda. Today, there is stark evidence that the world is warming and that greenhouse gases from fossil fuels are to blame 1,2 . At the same time, the global water cycle has been wrecked by decades of mismanagement and intensified by climate change. As a result, 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion people live in areas where water is scarce for at least part of the year 1 -and those numbers could double by 2050. Strategies for governing water and addressing climate change in tandem must be higher on the political agenda.This matters for three reasons. First, water is the primary medium through which people experience climate change. Three-quarters of all disasters are water-related 3 . In the past year alone, massive floods have affected at least two-thirds of Pakistan's districts; extreme drought has devastated the Horn of Africa; and Europe, the western United States, Australia and parts of Latin America have experienced both extremes. Many of these events have a clear climate-change fingerprint. Along coasts Managing water and climate in tandem would protect water resources, reduce disaster risks, lower greenhouse-gas emissions and assure equitable access.

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Section: Foster Justice Equity and Inclusion In Water And Climate Act...mentioning

confidence: 99%

As the UN meets, make water central to climate action

Rahman

Mukherji²,

Johannessen

et al. 2023

Nature

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“…A similar paradox of increased drought impact associated with increased water supply (and thus consumption) was shown as a possible driver of the Maya collapse 68 . Finally, a recent analysis of the potential impact of unprecedented drought in African urban context has shown how increased water supply can exacerbate inequalities and worsen the impact of drought on urban communities 69 . This body of socio-hydrological literature, which our work contributes to, helps shifting the framing of drought conditions from solely hydroclimatic events to socially-influenced water scarcity conditions, reframed as anthropogenic droughts 70 .…”

Section: Fig 4 Cup-in-ball Representation Of the Socio-hydrological R...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Over-reliance on water infrastructure erodes the resilience of drylands pastoralists

Baldassarre

Piemontese

Terzi

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Extreme droughts are affecting millions of livestock farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, causing water shortages, famines, migration, and fatalities. The construction of new small water infrastructures (e.g., wells, boreholes, and small dams) is increasingly supported by NGOs and national governments to improve water availability for agro-pastoralists, especially as an emergency response to extreme droughts. While the short-term benefits of small water infrastructure are clear, their potential cumulative impact and their long-term effects on the resilience of drylands communities remain unclear. Building on in-depth anthropological literature from five key African drylands, we model post-drought pastoralists' dynamics related to small water infrastructure. We show that while developing new water points releases water shortages in the short term, it can erode the traditional adaptation practices without adequate governance. This can cause unexpected long-term impacts, such as sedentism, overgrazing, rangeland degradation, and groundwater depletion. We further illustrate how our model captures early quantitative signals of resilience loss in dryland Angola, where large-scale implementation of small water infrastructure is being delivered in response to the worst droughts ever recorded in the pursuit of increasing climate resilience.

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“…Generally, global climate (climate variability [CV] and climate change [CC]) can lead to more arid conditions and severe drought, negatively affecting drylands. While the continuous growth of the human population leads to greater development and exploitation of oases (Miao et al, 2020;United Nations, 2022;Rusca et al, 2022;Stringer et al, 2021). The sustainable development of oases is facing severe challenges, such as water scarcity (Song et al, 2023), land degradation (J.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impact of climate (CV and CC) is predicted to exacerbate aridity in oasis regions(Miao et al, 2020;Rusca et al, 2022;Stringer et al, 2021), posing substantial challenges to their sustainable development…”

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confidence: 99%

Distribution and Growth Drivers of Oases at a Global Scale

Cui,

Gui,

Liu

et al. 2024

Earth's Future

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The human‐environmental system in drylands is centered on oases. Despite its extent and socio‐ecological importance, understanding the dynamic changes of global oases and their human and environmental driving forces is imperative for sustainable development in drylands under global warming. Nevertheless, the dynamic changes of global oases and how they respond to the evolving environment are not well established. In this study, three criteria were summarized (i.e., existing in dryland climates, surrounded or partially surrounded by desert terrain, having a reliable source of freshwater and forming landscape units with higher vegetation coverage/productivity). A global oasis distribution map from 1995 to 2020 was generated using European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative Land Cover and GIMMS‐3G+ data (overall accuracy within a 95% confidence interval is 0.85 ± 0.01) based on overlay analysis and visual interpretation. In addition, we used geographic and temporal weighted regression methods to evaluate the potential macro‐level elements affecting both global and local oasis growth. The result showed that the global oases area in 2020 occupied an area of 191.91 Mha, and most oases existed in Asia (77.3%). The global oases area has significantly increased from 1995 to 2020 (+8.65 Mha). However, about 13.43 Mha of the global oases are desertified, indicating a high risk of desertification. Water resources, contributing 51.36% to the total driver's contribution, are key to the global oasis expansion. In the context of climate (climate variability and climate change), this research highlights the need for improved holistic water resource management for long‐term global oasis growth, particularly in developing countries where the oases' development is threatened by water scarcity and desertification.

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Unprecedented droughts are expected to exacerbate urban inequalities in Southern Africa

Cited by 32 publications

References 122 publications

As the UN meets, make water central to climate action

As the UN meets, make water central to climate action

Over-reliance on water infrastructure erodes the resilience of drylands pastoralists

Distribution and Growth Drivers of Oases at a Global Scale

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