Posts in the 'Nature-Based Solutions' category
Monsoon season has always brought torrential downpours to Gorakhpur, India, but the city has seen record-breaking rainfall in the last few years. Residents of the northern Indian city often find their streets submerged in water, their houses waterlogged. Stagnant floodwaters ...
What if you could send a WhatsApp message and a colorful green van would deliver free native tree seedlings directly to you? In Salvador, Brazil, the local government does just that. Painted with a picture of a biodiverse Brazilian forest, ...
In Cape Town, South Africa, and Chennai, India, “Day Zero” events where cities run out of water have drawn global media attention. But while these catastrophes seem like rare, temporary crises caused by droughts or mismanagement, life without ample water ...
Once-unthinkable water crises are becoming commonplace. Reservoirs in Chennai, India’s sixth-largest city, are nearly dry right now. Last year, residents of Cape Town, South Africa narrowly avoided their own “Day Zero” water shut-off. And the year before that, Rome rationed water to conserve scarce ...
One of South India’s biggest cities is almost out of water. A year after Cape Town, South Africa, had its own “Day Zero” crisis, the reservoirs in Chennai are nearly dry, leaving millions in this usually-wet coastal city wondering if they ...
Chennai faced a devastating flood in 2015 that killed hundreds of people and displaced many more. Today, the southern Indian city’s four main reservoirs are virtually dry. This crisis is not only due to lack of water. Lack of proper management is ...
“Poor and vulnerable” is a common refrain in climate change stories. It’s a phrase used with good reason, to highlight how climate change disproportionately affects the disenfranchised. Economically, politically and socially vulnerable communities feel climate impacts first and hardest. They have fewer ...
Urban flooding is a major and growing concern. Japan experienced floods and mudslides that killed more than 120 people last year. The Indian state of Kerala witnessed a 100-year flood that swamped several metropolitan areas. And a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on ...
As 21st century cities continue to grow, their capacities to adapt, learn and transform need to increase as well, especially in vulnerable neighborhoods. Cities are key players in the global movement to address the threats posed by climate change. Cities ...
Climate change affects poor and marginalized communities first and hardest. These effects are happening now – not in a far-fetched future. Particularly in cities, a lack of access to basic services, a long history of unsustainable urban development, and political ...
This century will be remembered as the urban century. Our generation will witness the most significant urban growth in human history. By 2050, there will be 2.4 billion more people in cities, a rate of urban growth that is the ...
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a special report on the social and economic consequences of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming compared to 2 degrees Celsius. Changing the temperature in your home by one or two ...
In 2014, São Paulo nearly ran out of water. Schools closed, crops faltered and reservoirs were left at a tiny 5 percent of their capacity for the city and its surrounding population of 22 million. It was the worst drought in eight decades. ...
Most people don’t associate cities with trees, but urban areas are actually dependent on healthy forests. Trees within cities reduce heat, provide spaces for recreation and socialization, and increase property values. Nearby trees in the watersheds around cities filter drinking water and ...
With the new year just starting, urban decision-makers are planning their 2018 to-do lists, and resilience is the perfect place to start. In 2017, natural disasters stole the show, flooding the headlines and trending on social media. More than 40 ...
