Dodging Day Zero: Drought, Adaptation And Inequality In Cape Town

1/26/2024; 29 minutes

In the coming decades, individuals around the world must adapt to changing environmental conditions, often driven by climate change. Adaptation requires significant resources, prompting the question of whether existing economic and social inequities may be exacerbated when adaptation become accessible to some, but not others. Kyle Meng, associate professor of economics at UC Santa Barbara, explores what happens when one of the world's most unequal cities experiences an unprecedented, nearly catastrophic environmental disaster. In 2017, following years of prolonged drought, the city of Cape Town announced an impending "Day Zero", at which point pipes would run dry. Using a variety of data sources, we show how households of different wealth levels adapted to Day Zero and discuss the long term implications of Day Zero for Cape Town's water use and public finances. Recorded on 07/19/2023. (#39334)

Like what you learn?

Donate to UCSD-TV to support informative & inspiring programming.
 

SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES
Subscribe to receive email notifications about featured videos.
(c)2020 Regents of the University of California. All right reserved. Terms and Conditions of Use.