Today, the lakes around Cape Town are brimming with water, but it was only a few years ago that South Africa’s second-most populous city made global headlines as a multi-year drought depleted its reservoirs, impacting millions of people. That kind of extreme event may become the norm, researchers now warn.
Using new high-resolution simulations, researchers from Stanford University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that human-caused climate change made the “Day Zero” drought in southwestern South Africa — named after the day, barely averted, when Cape Town’s municipal water supply would need to be shut off — five to
Climate Change Means Cape Town’s ‘Day Zero’ Drought Won’t Be an Anomaly, Stanford Researcher Says
Using new high-resolution simulations, researchers suggest extreme drought events could become common in southwestern South Africa and other parts of the world with similar climates, like California
Nov 19, 2020 | by Danielle Torrent Tucker |
