Wits Pro VC: CSI Seminar 3: Did Climate Change Cause the Durban Floods? by Prof Francois Engelbrecht

Wits Pro VC: Climate, Sustainability and Inequality Seminar 3: Did Climate Change Cause the Durban Floods? by Professor Francois Engelbrecht Earlier this year (2022), floods in the country’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province killed 489 people, destroyed 4,000 houses and displaced about 40,000 residents. Flooding started when a cut-off low-pressure system delivered extremely high rainfall levels of 450 mm in some areas in just 48 hours. Many have called it South Africa’s deadliest storm on record, and the country’s leaders have blamed climate change for the widespread devastation. But is that accurate? Flooding is a frequent, annual and well-known hazard in South Africa. In this seminar, Prof. Engelbrecht reviews the science of ‘climate change attribution’ and explains how this may increasingly underpin the UNFCCC ‘International Mechanism for Loss and Damage’. Using a new event attribution modelling capability developed at the Wits Global Change Institute, he explores the role of climate change in the Durban floods. Read more about the floods here: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/artic...