Water levels at Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe have dropped dramatically because of the latest El Nino drought.
Key points
- Zimbabwe ’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared a national disaster.
- Since the early 2010s, the El Nino weather pattern has induced droughts and heatwaves in the Zambezi region, causing a drop in the water levels at Lake Kariba.
- Lake Kariba is the 280 kilometre-long,
- It is a human-made lake. It is part of the Kariba Dam, which was built between 1955 and 1959 in the Zambezi river basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- The dam provides hydroelectric power to the Kariba north power station on the Zambian side and Kariba south power station on the Zimbabwean side. These provide most of the electricity for the two nations.
