‘End is near’: Will Kabul become first big city without water by 2030? | Water
Posted by __Gwynn__@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 16 comments
'Collapse is already happening, it's just not evenly distributed yet.'
A city of 6 million expected to run out of water in about 5 years. Lots of talk about adaptation, solutions while it's actually (or should be) glaringly obvious Kabul sits in the near future 'unihabitable zone', where it's just too hot and dry to survive. And where wil these 6 million people (and then the rest of the country) go? Up North, climate refugees, fuelling right wing immigrant bashing authoritarian political parties further and moving what remains of the 'left' further right. Buckle up kids.
LordTuranian@reddit
Not just Kabul, man. It's happening all over the world. The Earth is just too overpopulated so all fresh water is being used up except in certain parts of the world. But eventually all fresh water on Earth will be used up.
roblewk@reddit
Great Lakes will be the last stand
LordTuranian@reddit
Yes. They will be the last to go dry but they will go dry.
roblewk@reddit
No human will be alive to see that.
EnoughAd2682@reddit
I hope you're right, maybe it give the planet a chance to recover
codacoda74@reddit
Johannesburg
Hokker3@reddit
Mexico City.
MaximinusDrax@reddit
Chennai and Capetown are other good candidates. Almost as if it's a global phenomenon
jakubstastny@reddit
You’re right. The aquifer has been overdrawn for decades, the city is sinking. A lot of water comes from much lower altitudes like the Valle de Bravo dam, they pump it up like 1,000m of elevation and a fair distance too. And the Valle de Bravo dam has been overdrawn too in recent years, although now it stabilised for the time being. And the whole system is just really unstable, old and just won’t hold for much longer I think. I’m not an expert but I lived in Mexico City, Valle de Bravo and one other place that’s crucial for water in Mexico City (bordering Morelos state).
hitchaw@reddit
Why
whereisskywalker@reddit
From what I remember Mexico city is very high in elevation, they are dealing with having to pump water up the mountains and the city is falling into the earth because they have pulled so much water out.
I recall reading something about how the pipes leak a lot and maybe didn't have the best system with keeping water clean.
This is all from memory though and something I casually read, I really know nothing in depth about Mexico city.
sorry97@reddit
Yup, it’s the same city from that guardian article back in June.
Unfortunately, Kabul’s inhabitants are probably poor, so it doesn’t matter. Really sad how human lives, our lives are valued only on whatever money they produce.
In the upcoming years, we’ll be seeing another exodus due to the climate crisis. In fact, it is already occurring. Europeans are travelling overseas to escape the summer heat, along with other humans. We go back to what I said above: “they’re poor, so it doesn’t matter”. If you got money, sure, you can spend your summer in your lavish summertime overseas. If you don’t… well, guess you better learn to live in a 50C+ degrees city.
And no, this doesn’t mean you have to be Jeff Bezos in order to buy a home overseas.
Scottish and Englishmen are buying most of the homes in Spain, for example. Same in Medellin, Colombia. The American dream is dead, as more people realise Latin America isn’t so bad, this will turn into the new Europe of non official climate refugees (cause you know, why use the word “climate refugees”, when you can justify it with “amazing, cool city, that still holds a bit of normal climate?)
roblewk@reddit
So you think people will migrate to Central and northern South America?
sorry97@reddit
Couldn’t find the original from the guardian. https://www.pressreader.com/australia/the-guardian-australia/20250225/281998973195249
Just read Bill Howard’s commentary, dude was a victim of gentrification, just like other elders. He came back to live in Medellin, Colombia.
In fact, Medellin’s heavily catering to foreigners, since COP is so undervalued. Rabbit hole runs deep, but it’s already happening: people migrate during summer, in order to avoid the devastating heatwaves. This is only beginning, once temperatures reach uninhabitable levels, that’s when these cities become heat domes of death.
Heck, around two weeks ago or so, a woman whose job was to clean the streets of Spain, DIED during her shift. Construction workers are facing the same difficulties, iirc France are Spain are currently shutting down schools and the like, due to the insufferable heat.
This is late stage capitalism. People who die from heatstroke, cause no one is willing to pay them a few extra bills, so they work at night. Insane.
littlepup26@reddit
I saw this article two days ago and right below it was an article about another bathhouse being opened in my city. The inequity is sickening.
BEERsandBURGERs@reddit
The Panjshir River pipeline is one project which, if completed, could alleviate the city’s over-reliance on groundwater and supply 2 million residents with potable water. The design phases for this were completed in late 2024 and are awaiting budget approval, with the government seeking additional investors to supplement the $170m cost.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/07/kabul-could-become-first-modern-city-to-run-out-of-water-report-warns