Kayaga_0956247820952030.pdf (565.64 kB)
Cities and extreme weather events: impacts of flooding and extreme heat on water and electricity services in Ghana
journal contribution
posted on 2020-06-23, 12:59 authored by Sam KayagaSam Kayaga, Ebenezer Amankwaa, Katherine V. GoughKatherine V. Gough, Robert WilbyRobert Wilby, Mercy Abarike, Samuel Codjoe, Raymond Kasei, Cuthbert Nabilse, Paul Yankson, Peter Mensah, Karim Abdullah, Paula GriffithsPaula GriffithsExtreme weather events disproportionately affect residents of low-income urban settlements in the Global South. This paper explores the impact of extreme heat and flooding on water and electricity services in Accra and Tamale, Ghana. Interviews with water/electricity providers and water quality analysis are combined with household interviews, focus group discussions and observations conducted in eight low-income urban settlements. The findings highlight the interconnected nature of service provision during extreme weather events, with challenges in one sector reinforcing problems in another, exacerbating difficulties with access. Although households can utilise rainwater during flooding, it is highly susceptible to faecal contamination, and electricity supplies are often disconnected. During extreme heat, demand for water and electricity outstrips supply, leading to severe shortages, especially in Tamale. Water and electricity service providers should consider their interconnected nature and adopt a joined-up approach to cope with extreme weather events, which are predicted to increase with climate change
Funding
British Academy under the Cities and Infrastructure Programme CI170211.
History
School
- Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
- Social Sciences and Humanities
Department
- Geography and Environment
Published in
Environment and UrbanizationVolume
33Issue
1Pages
131-150Publisher
SAGE PublicationsVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
Rights holder
© International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)Publisher statement
This is an Open Access Article. It is published by Sage under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC). Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/Acceptance date
2020-06-15Publication date
2020-09-19Copyright date
2021ISSN
0956-2478eISSN
1746-0301Publisher version
Language
- en
Depositor
Dr Sam Kayaga. Deposit date: 22 June 2020Usage metrics
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