In mid-February 2025, southern Botswana and eastern South Africa were hit by heavy rainfall, sparking severe flooding across the region. The floods claimed at least 31 lives, including 22 in KwaZulu-Natal (Mhlophe-Gumede, 2025), near Durban, and at least nine in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, amongst them six children (Government of Botswana, 2025). At least 5,000 people … Continue reading “Increasing extreme rainfall and rapid urbanisation, major drivers behind Gaborone’s deadly floods”
Dora Vrkic
Women and girls continue to bear disproportionate impacts of heatwaves in South Sudan that have become a constant threat
Extreme heat has affected a large region of continental Eastern Africa since mid-February. Extreme daytime temperatures have been recorded in South Sudan particularly affecting people in poor housing and outdoor workers, a very large part of the population. After dozens of children collapsed with heatstroke in Juba, schools were closed for two weeks nationwide starting … Continue reading “Women and girls continue to bear disproportionate impacts of heatwaves in South Sudan that have become a constant threat”
Yet another hurricane wetter, windier and more destructive because of climate change
Hurricane Milton began as a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday 5th October. It very rapidly intensified to tropical storm status, before undergoing explosive intensification to a high category 5 between Sunday 6th and Monday 7th, as it moved southeast towards the Yucatan Peninsula (NOAA, 2024), where the central pressure fell to … Continue reading “Yet another hurricane wetter, windier and more destructive because of climate change”
Climate change, El Niño and infrastructure failures behind massive floods in southern Brazil
Between 24 April and 4 May 2024 over 420 mm of rain fell in Brazil’s southernmost state Rio Grande do Sul, leading to more than 90% of the state being affected by flooding.
Urban planning at the heart of increasingly severe East African flood impacts in a warming world
The 2024 long rains in East Africa were exceptionally heavy towards the end of March and throughout April into May, causing severe flooding in Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and other parts of the region. Hundreds of people lost their lives in the floods and more than 700,000 were affected by the floods across all countries due … Continue reading “Urban planning at the heart of increasingly severe East African flood impacts in a warming world”