Bloomberg Businessweek Europe - November 04, 2019

31

Bloomberg Businessweek � Climate November 4, 2019

Where the Zambezi emerges

from an underground spring

in Zambia, the flow is at the

lowest level Willie Chiwaya

has seen in his nine years as

a guide at the river’s source.

Two giant hydropower dams on the Zambezi River offer

stark examples of the varied effects of shifts in the climate.

At Kariba, on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia,

water levels are close to their lowest in decades, while the

Zambezi’s lower reaches are flooding. The Zambezi River

Authority has been cutting the outflow at Kariba—and thus

power production—causing blackouts across the two

countries. Just 120 miles downstream, at Cahora Bassa in

Mozambique, the reservoir was so full the floodgates had

to be opened.

31

BloombergBusinessweek �Climate November 4, 2019

Where the Zambezi emerges
from an underground spring
in Zambia, the flow is at the
lowest level Willie Chiwaya
has seen in his nine years as
a guide at the river’s source.

Two giant hydropower dams on the Zambezi River offer

stark examples of the varied effects of shifts in the climate.

At Kariba, on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia,

water levels are close to their lowest in decades, while the

Zambezi’s lower reaches are flooding. The Zambezi River

AuthorityhasbeencuttingtheoutflowatKariba—andthus

powerproduction—causingblackoutsacrossthetwo

countries.Just 120 miles downstream, at Cahora Bassa in

Mozambique, the reservoir was so full the floodgates had

to be opened.