Victoria Falls in danger

 One of Africa's most celebrated natural wonders, Victoria Falls, is facing mounting threats from climate-related water risks, particularly recurrent droughts, according to a newly released global analysis by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Unesco.

The report, which examined 1,172 non-marine Unesco World Heritage Sites worldwide, found that 73% of these sites are exposed to at least one severe water-related threat -  including drought, flooding, or pollution. Alarmingly, 21% of the sites face both extremes of too much and too little water in alternating years.

Victoria Falls, straddling the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, is among the sites flagged as increasingly vulnerable due to persistent droughts linked to shifting rainfall patterns and intensifying climate change.

Once famed for its thundering cascades and lush rainforest ecosystem, the site -  inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1989 -  has, in recent years, experienced periods where the mighty Zambezi River's flow dwindled to a near trickle. Severe droughts were recorded in 2016, 2019, and 2024, with rainfall arriving later each year, prolonging dry spells that damage ecosystems and disrupt livelihoods.

The report warns that the site's vulnerability threatens both its ecological integrity and economic sustainability.

Under normal conditions, more than one million tourists visit Victoria Falls annually, making it a vital pillar of the tourism economy for both Zimbabwe and Zambia. Thousands of jobs -  from tour guides to hotel staff and craft vendors -  depend on the attraction. Moreover, the Zambezi River feeds hydroelectric dams downstream, providing power across the region.

"When the Falls suffer, people suffer," the report states.

In 2019, a year of severe drought, Zimbabwe recorded over 300 human-wildlife conflicts as animals roamed in search of food and water. Meanwhile, 45 million people across southern Africa required food aid due to widespread crop failures. Power blackouts lasting up to 18 hours per day were experienced in Zimbabwe and Zambia as dam levels dropped, crippling economies and stalling climate resilience efforts.

Although the report classifies Victoria Falls as having "medium drought risk" -  in part due to relatively low human development density around the site -  the probability of future droughts remains high, reinforced by recent trends and climate modelling.

Additionally, infrastructure expansion linked to tourism is placing growing stress on the fragile environment.

"The concern is not just about how often droughts are occurring, but whether the environment and communities have time to recover before the next crisis hits," said report authors Samantha Kuzma (WRI) and Tales Carvalho Resende (Unesco).

Globally, other iconic heritage sites grappling with similar water-related challenges include the Taj Mahal in India, Angkor in Cambodia, Yellowstone National Park in the US, and Mt. Everest's Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal.

Despite these dire warnings, WRI says solutions remain within reach. These include improved water management policies, investment in drought-resilient infrastructure, and integrating climate risk assessments into tourism and conservation planning.

As southern Africa braces for another uncertain rainy season, the future of Victoria Falls -  and the millions who depend on it -  may depend on how urgently leaders act on the warnings from climate scientists and conservationists.

Source: Victoria Falls in danger (13th July 2025)

Victoria Falls dries to a trickle after worst drought in a century

One of southern Africa’s biggest tourist attractions has seen an unprecedented decline this dry season, fuelling climate change fears

For decades Victoria Falls, where southern Africa’s Zambezi river cascades down 100 metres into a gash in the earth, have drawn millions of holidaymakers to Zimbabwe and Zambia for their stunning views.

But the worst drought in a century has slowed the waterfalls to a trickle, fuelling fears that climate change could kill one of the region’s biggest tourist attractions.

While they typically slow down during the dry season, officials said this year had brought an unprecedented decline in water levels.

“In previous years, when it gets dry, it’s not to this extent,” Dominic Nyambe, a seller of tourist handicrafts in his 30s, said outside his shop in Livingstone, on the Zambian side. “This [is] our first experience of seeing it like this.

“It affects us because ... clients ... can see on the internet [that the falls are low] ... We don’t have so many tourists.”

As world leaders gather in Madrid for the COP25 climate change conference to discuss ways to halt catastrophic warming caused by human-driven greenhouse gas emissions, southern Africa is already suffering some of its worst effects – with taps running dry and about 45 million people in need of food aid amid crop failures.

Zimbabwe and Zambia have suffered power cuts as they are heavily reliant on hydropower from plants at the Kariba dam, which is on the Zambezi river downstream of the waterfalls.

Stretches of this kilometre-long natural wonder are nothing but dry stone. Water flow is low in others.

Data from the Zambezi River Authority shows water flow at its lowest since 1995, and well under the long-term average. The Zambian president, Edgar Lungu, has called it “a stark reminder of what climate change is doing to our environment”.

Yet scientists are cautious about categorically blaming climate change. There is always seasonal variation in levels.

Harald Kling, a hydrologist at engineering firm Poyry and a Zambezi river expert, said climate science dealt in decades, not particular years, “so it’s sometimes difficult to say this is because of climate change because droughts have always occurred”.

“If they become more frequent, then you can start saying: OK, this may be climate change.”

He said early climate models had predicted more frequent dry years in the Zambezi basin, but that “what was surprising was that it [drought] has been so frequent” – the last drought was only three years ago. As the river got hotter, 437m cubic metres of water were evaporating every second.

In Livingstone this week, four tourists stared into a mostly dry chasm normally gushing with white water. German student Benjamin Konig was disappointed.

“Seems to be not much [water] – a few rocky stones with a little water between it,” he said.

Richard Beilfuss, head of the International Crane Foundation, who has studied the Zambezi for the past three decades, believed climate change was delaying the monsoon, “concentrating rain in bigger events, which are then much harder to store, and a much longer, excruciating dry season”.

Source: Victoria Falls dries to a trickle after worst drought in a century (17/12/19)

Drought taking its toll on Victoria Falls

Tourists staring in wonder at the full force of the Zambezi River cascading over Victoria Falls struggle to believe the region is suffering one of its worst droughts, but local guide Patrick Sakala knows all is not well.

Flows have dropped to 30-year lows at the waterfall straddling Zambia and Zimbabwe’s shared border as poor rains and soaring temperatures take their toll across southern Africa.

“At this time of year, you usually wouldn’t be able to hear me over the thunderous roar,” said Sakala, pointing at rocks piercing through a vast sheet of water dropping 100m, twice the height of Niagara Falls in Canada.

“You wouldn’t see those rocks. You might not see anything because of the smoke all around you,” he added, referring to the clouds of mist thrown up from the swells in the chasm beneath the falls, known locally as “The Smoke That Thunders”.

Downstream, Kariba Lake – the world’s largest man-made reservoir – is only 12 percent full, compared to 53 percent at the same time last year, according to the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA).

Kariba is the water source for a hydroplant which provides Zimbabwe and Zambia with much of their electricity, and power cuts have become a daily occurrence this year.

The plant could stop producing power completely in six months if water levels continue to fall, deepening economic pain and increasing poverty, an official said last month.

“It’s been terrible,” said Gloria Masheka, who runs a guest house in nearby Livingstone.

“The price of everything has gone up, we don’t have electricity for sometimes eight hours a day.

“All people talk about is how they don’t have power and can’t afford food.”

The drought has been blamed on a severe El Niño weather pattern unsettling climates across the world.

On the continent, it is expected to hit 49 million people from Malawi to Namibia, South Africa and Botswana, leaving about 14 million going hungry, the UN World Food Programme says.

African governments are requesting billions of dollars in aid as the unusually dry period ruins farmland, kills cattle and cuts off water supplies.

South Africa is suffering its worst drought in a century, likely to push 50 000 people below the poverty line, according to estimates from the World Bank.

The dams’ levels have dropped 16 percent since October and are expected to take three years to recover.

The dry, hot conditions risk hurting the region’s vital tourism industry as lush safari parks are scorched brown, mighty rivers such as the Zambezi are diminished, and even Victoria Falls loses some of its marvel.

“It’s still spectacular,” said Rory, a US tourist peering off the “knife-edge” bridge which sways high above a winding river gorge under the waterfall.

“It’s sad what the drought has done here. I hope people still come to see this beautiful country.”

Drought taking its toll on Victoria Falls (03/03/16)

Low water levels at Victoria Falls highlight southern Africa’s worst drought in 30 years

Tourists post pictures on social media of iconic falls known as “The Smoke That Thunders” looking decidedly tame as farmers endure record drought that will cause hunger across the continent

Southern Africa is in the grip of an historic drought which has slashed crop production, killed cattle, shut off water supplies to rural communities and even diminished the mighty Victoria Falls on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border to a shadow of its former self.

Tourists visiting the falls have posted pictures showing the famous Smoke That Thunders reduced in some parts to little more than a trickle, as markers show it is two metres below its habitual levels.

The low water mark has resulted in locals rechristening the Unesco’s world heritage site “Victoria Walls”. Earlier this month tourists could be seen crossing the cliff edge where the falls would normally be in full flow in January, while others swam in the Devil’s Pool right on the edge of the precipice, something that would normally be impossible.

Nicole Subramunian, a worker at a safari lodge on the Zambezi River which feeds the falls, said the low water levels were perilous for everyone.

“Low levels make boating a nightmare. Boats can get stuck on sandbanks and many hippos and crocs appear in these drier areas, which is dangerous,” she told The Telegraph.

Although the flow of water from the Zambezi River is always low during the dry season, conservation experts say the rains now flowing in from floodplains are six weeks too late.

Official data from the Zambezi River Authority shows that flows were 20 per cent lower on January 18 than the previous year, and that Lake Kariba, the world’s largest manmade reservoir that sits upstream of Victoria Falls, is only 12 per cent full at present.

The dam that sits across the lake supplies both Zambia and Zimbabwe with up to half of its power and yet ZRA said water levels were within two metres of its massive hydropower plants having to be shut down.

Both countries are already feeling the effects. Zambia relies on hydroelectricity for 99.7 per cent of its power in total.

Its president, Edgar Lungu, in October organised national prayer sessions for a strengthening of the economy and rain to fall but the prayers were not answered and in the same month, ZESCO, Zambia’s power supplier, implemented a programme of rolling blackouts for several hours each day.

Those have sent the cost of living for consumers skyrocketing and crippled the already struggling copper industry, which is central to Zambia’s economy.

Meanwhile in Zimbabwe, a similar power crisis means that urban residents go without electricity for more than 18 hours a day, with a knock-on effect for industry and business. At least 7,000 cattle are reported to have already died and northern herders are reportedly driving their animals into the country’s national parks, meaning they will compete with wildlife for scarce food resources.

Earlier this month it was revealed that Robert Mugabe’s cash-strapped government has struck a secret deal to buy expensive power from Eskom, the state power firm of its southern neighbour South Africa. The move prompted outrage from South Africans who have also been blighted by a lack of capacity this year, leading to frequent “load shedding” power cuts.

South Africa’s drought is said to be the worst for at least 27 years. Five provinces are close to being declared disaster zones because of a lack of water and citizens’ groups have been organising whip-rounds for watertrucks to conduct deliveries to rural areas. The country will also be forced to import an unprecedented five to six million tonnes of corn, its staple, from overseas.

Farmers have been forced to cull emaciated cattle and at least one is said to have committed suicide because of the tough conditions.

The World Food Programme has warned that 14m people across southern Africa face hunger because of poor harvests last year, which it has warned will be even worse this year.

Further north, Save the Children has categorised the situation in Ethiopiaas the second worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world, behind only Syria, with some 400,000 children suffering severe acute malnutrition as a result of failed rains.

The drought has been attributed to El Niño, the climate phenomenonwhich sees Pacific Ocean warming that has a ripple affect on weather patterns across the world, and which this year was said by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) monitors to be the strongest on record.

This week, a new US study warned that the record-breaking string of hot years since the year 2000 was almost certainly a sign of man-made global warming.

In December, almost 190 nations agreed at the COP21 summit in Paris to shift from fossil fuels towards cleaner energies such as wind and solar power to limit warming.

Source: Low water levels at Victoria Falls highlight southern Africa’s worst drought in 30 years (27/01/16)

Sub-Saharan African countries are failing to plan for climate change

Failure to factor climate change into long-term investment and planning risks leaving countries across sub-Saharan vulnerable to droughts, floods, heatwaves and rising sea-levels

A broken bridge over the Licungo river after flooding in Zambezia province, Mozambique

Communities around the world are feeling the impacts of climate change already, but many of the most severe effects will be felt in the decades to come, particularly from mid-century onwards. Nowhere is this more apparent than in sub-Saharan Africa which will be one of the hardest hit regions of the world.

Right now, African countries are busy investing in infrastructure and development to help support current economic growth. Many of these long-lived investments – such as ports, large dams, and social infrastructure, such as hospitals and schools – will most likely last well beyond 2050. But by then, Africa’s climate may look quite different to what it does today. Factoring climate change into long-term investments and planning decisions is essential for supporting climate-resilient development – but it’s not happening.

New research, coordinated by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), shows that governments and businesses across sub-Saharan Africa are failing to consider long-term climate information in their investments and planning decisions. This includes studies from Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Ghana and Mozambique. The worst case scenario is that poor use of climate information could lock societies into patterns that make them highly vulnerable to droughts, floods, high temperatures or sea-level rise in the future.

Why do decision-makers have this blind spot? First and most importantly, other challenges such as eradicating poverty and promoting access to primary and secondary education are extremely pressing, forcing decision-makers to think and act in short time frames.

Secondly, long-term climate information is often ill-suited to informing local economic, social and environmental contexts in sub-Saharan Africa.

Knowing what the average temperature in 2050 will be for rural Nakuru County, Kenya, is of little practical use. What decision makers really want to know is how higher temperatures are likely to influence water resource availability or crop yields: outcomes that affect local people most. But what decision makers ask for is not often technically possible as there is a lack of information that combines knowledge of future climate with other disciplines such as hydrology or ecology.

Full Article: Sub-Saharan African countries are failing to plan for climate change (The Guardian, 13/02/15)