🧃The Global Cities Facing Climate Whiplash

Welcome to The Strawman, the daily climate newsletter. If you thought urban weather was just a matter of carrying sunglasses and an emergency raincoat, think again—climate change is flipping the script.

From Dry to Drenched

New research from Bristol and Cardiff universities, in partnership with WaterAid, has revealed that 52% of the world’s most populated cities are getting wetter, while 44% are drying out. Cities like Colombo, Mumbai, and Kuala Lumpur are seeing more rain than usual, while places like Los Angeles, Riyadh, and Paris are heading towards drought.

The real head-turner? About 13% of cities, including Lahore in Pakistan and Bogotá in Colombia, have flipped from historically dry to soaking wet climates over the past 40 years. Meanwhile, cities like Madrid and Hong Kong have made the reverse journey, drying out dramatically. It's like climate change spun a giant weather wheel, and nobody knows where it will land next.

The Urban Water Whiplash: Why Some Cities Are Flooding While Others Dry Out

Scientists explain that for every degree of atmospheric warming, the air can hold 7% more water. This means storms can suddenly go from “light drizzle” to “biblical flood.” At the same time, warmer air is sucking moisture from the ground, leaving some cities dry and dusty.

This creates "climate whiplash"—where cities like Hangzhou and Jakarta are swinging between floods and droughts faster than you can say "evacuation notice." Europe’s ageing infrastructure is struggling to keep up, but it’s poorer cities in Asia and Africa facing the harshest impacts. The study estimates that 250 million people now live in cities that have flipped from one water extreme to another.

Day Zero on the Horizon

WaterAid warns that the threat of “Day Zero”—the moment a city’s taps run dry—is looming large for many urban areas. Four billion people worldwide already face water scarcity. And with climate change driving both floods and droughts, clean water is becoming as rare as an honest weather forecast.

The stakes? Beyond daily inconvenience, water shortages threaten to destabilize economies and worsen security issues. As WaterAid's executive director Sol Oyuela put it, we’re inching closer to a reality where a lack of water could push societies “to the brink.”

Takeaway

Climate change isn’t just changing the weather—it’s reshaping how cities live, plan, and survive. Whether it's floods or droughts, one thing is clear: water is about to become the world's most unpredictable resource.