Impact of urbanisation on climate crisis: Floods, heatwaves and health inequalities
People fill buckets with water from a burst pipe that was damaged by the floods in Durban. Photo: Rosetta Msimango
With more than half of the world’s population already living in urban areas and the influx to cities set to increase in the coming decades, the construction of more houses and other infrastructure will shrink green spaces even more, resulting in more flooding and more severe heat. South Africa is urbanising rapidly and, according to Statistica, 67.85% of the country’s population lived in urban areas and cities in 2021 – a trend that is continuing unabated. By 2030, the number of South Africans living in urban areas would have increased to 71%, increasing the high demand for housing and other infrastructure projects which will be built in open and green spaces.
Greenpeace Africa released a report in November 2020 titled Weathering the Storm: Extreme weather events and climate change in Africa. It indicated that the mean annual temperature increase for much of Africa was projected to or to fall within the range of 3°C to 6°C by the end of the 21st century if high emissions continue – two to four times beyond the rise permitted in the Paris Agreement.Get 14 days free to read all our investigative and in-depth journalism.
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