Thread by @iamkathambi

💔Africa has a MAJOR Cabro / impervious paving problem and it is causing all sorts of #ClimateAdaptation, #WaterPollution, #WaterScarcity, #UrbanFlooding and #drainage problems.

The 'Nouvea Riche' and contractors in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana are especially notorious for this!

Someone, somewhere lied to us that never seeing soil is the ultimate sophistication.

Now everyone has covered everything in hideous cabro and plastic turf 😭

Impervious surfaces like Cabro do not allow water to seep into the ground.

And that causes SEVERAL issues:

1. Water scarcity.
Cabro makes water flow fast into drains.
When water does not seep into the ground, it means that natural groundwater is not recharged.

The water we use, our rivers, boreholes, wells, depend on rainfall slowly seeping into the soil for recharge.

2. Urban flooding & drainage
Replacing natural vegetation with impervious surfaces increases the amount of stormwater flowing into drainage systems.
Overwhelmed & inadequate drainage systems are a key factor in the city flooding we see in Nairobi, Lagos, Accra etc.

3. Water Pollution
The natural hydrology cycle filters rain water as it seeps into the ground.
Impervious surfaces disrupt this process.
Stormwater runoff collects all sorts of surface level pollutants and chemicals.

This polluted water ends up in our rivers and water systems.

4. Urban heating
Natural vegetation absorbs heat and evaporates water to keep cities cool.

Paved surfaces absorb and hold heat, which makes cities heat up. Aka
"Urban heat islands"

This is one of the reasons the village always feels 'nicer and cooler' than the city 🌱

There are simple fixes for this:

1. LOVE and prioritize #nature. Including for well-being.

2. Stop using cabro like you're building a road. CABRO IS THE GHETTO 😭
Limit it to necessary areas.

2. If you must, use solutions that slow down storm water. They look very good too.

Also, Normalize shaming people for using Cabro as a show of sophistication.

SHAME them for being so classless 🗣

This is what urban drainage systems look like when water run over a city without natural vegetation to reduce the water volume.

All the trash, is deposited at the storm water’s end point.

Usually in rivers and drains 💔.