The world’s ports are starting to see huge climate change impacts

Are they doing enough to fight back?

Photo by Simon R Minshall.

The shipping containers were stacked so neatly. Then the flood came.

In April 2022, torrential rain fell on Durban in South Africa – and the flood hit the port hard. Rushing water lifted up sturdy steel containers and flung them both into the harbour and across nearby roads. Metal crunched against metal. Hundreds of the giant boxes were displaced in the chaos.

A flood like this one is truly devastating. Across the city of Durban, more than 450 people lost their lives. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed.

Scientists who later studied the incident concluded that climate change had made the heavy rains twice as likely.

The Port of Durban was forced to suspend operations for several days while workers cleared the worst of the debris. This impacted global supply chains – and foreshadowed a future in which critical infrastructure such as ports are increasingly at risk.