National / Science & Environment IN-DEPTH Climate change report: SA’s cities urged to prepare for heat waves and floods BL PREMIUM

Across SA heat waves will scorch the interior, coastal cities will battle to push back the encroaching sea and people will fondly remember Eskom’s load shedding. It is 2050 and the planet is ravaged by climate change. Billions feel the effects of this change every day and cities across the globe grapple with flooding, famine, temperature extremes and inequality. A new report, The Future we Don’t Want — How Climate Change could Impact the World’s Greatest Cities, predicts that by the middle of this century, millions of people will be crammed into the growing number of megacities across the globe. The report was compiled by C40 Cities, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, the Urban Climate Change Research Network, and Acclimatise. They predict that Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Durban, George, Paarl and Uitenhage will be battling to overcome coastal flooding. About 800-million people living in 570 cities will be vulnerable to rising sea levels, which will also cause water ...