Climate change exacerbated rainfall causing devastating flooding in eastern South Africa

A collaborative scientific study found that human-induced climate change approximately doubled the probability of the extreme 2-day rainfall that caused devastating floods in eastern South Africa in April 2022, increasing the event's intensity by 4-8%.

• Human-induced climate change has approximately doubled the probability of the extreme rainfall event that led to the disaster, while increasing the intensity of the event by 4-8%.
• The extreme 2-day rainfall event had a return time of approximately 20 years in the current climate, compared to a return time of about 40 years in a world 1.2C cooler. Some specific locations experienced much higher return times, such as Mount Edgecombe, where the event was a 1 in 200 year occurrence.
• The disaster's impact was worsened by pre-existing structural vulnerabilities, as floods disproportionately affected marginalised communities and informal settlements. Additionally, while early warnings were issued by the eThekwini municipality and the South African Weather Service, there are indications they had limited reach or were not actionable for recipients.

APA

World Weather Attribution (2022). Climate change exacerbated rainfall causing devastating flooding in eastern South Africa. https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-exacerbated-rainfall-causing-devastating-flooding-in-eastern-south-africa/

Chicago

World Weather Attribution. Climate change exacerbated rainfall causing devastating flooding in eastern South Africa. 2022. https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-exacerbated-rainfall-causing-devastating-flooding-in-eastern-south-africa/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Weather Attribution |title=Climate change exacerbated rainfall causing devastating flooding in eastern South Africa |date=13 May 2022 |url=https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-exacerbated-rainfall-causing-devastating-flooding-in-eastern-south-africa/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldweatherattribution2022climate, author = {{World Weather Attribution}}, title = {{Climate change exacerbated rainfall causing devastating flooding in eastern South Africa}}, institution = {World Weather Attribution}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-exacerbated-rainfall-causing-devastating-flooding-in-eastern-south-africa/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }