By Eleanor Momberg
The severe weather conditions experienced in South Africa in recent weeks are partially due to climate change. But the effects of climate change on weather patterns, and the intensity of severe weather events, are still being researched, experts said this week.
What is evident, however, is that climate change is contributing to the intensity of weather events.
Western Cape residents have experienced serious flooding, KwaZulu-Natal coastal residents suffered serious losses last year during violent storms and farmers across the country have lost thousands of hectares of grazing and crops during runaway fires.
This weekend KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape are again experiencing bitterly cold conditions, snowfalls and heavy rain.
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Despite popular belief, extreme weather conditions are not unusual in South Africa, according to the South African Weather Service.
Among notable incidents in 2000 was the heavy snow that covered Kokstad, Matatiele and Underberg in late September, while fires destroyed more than 200 000 hectares of grazing land in the Eastern Free State.
In August 2001 the Western Cape experienced severe flooding, while areas such as Memel and Vrede, Chrissiesmeer and Ermelo suffered fire damage estimated at millions of rands. A few weeks later runaway fires cause R350-million in damage in the Dundee, Volksrust and Vryheid area as strong winds and hail caused around R2,7-million in damage in Johannesburg.
In 2002, 2003 and 2004 it was again strong winds, fire, extreme cold and floods that caused untold damage and loss of life, while September 2005 saw hail the size of hen's eggs fall in Limpopo and fires ravage the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo .
This year the country has seen flooding in the Western Cape, a heat wave over the eastern parts of the country, runaway fires and severe weather warnings again for this weekend. At least 13 people died in fires in KwaZulu-Natal earlier this month.
By mid-week fire warnings will again be issued for the eastern parts of the country as temperatures shoot up over those parts that were extremely cold this weekend, forecasters said.
According to the rainfall forecast, favourable rainfall conditions are only likely to set in towards the new year.
The temperature forecast stated that there would be above-normal temperatures until November.
Joanne Yawitch, the deputy director general in the department of environmental affairs and tourism, confirmed that climate change was playing a role in changing weather patterns: "What it raises for South Africa is the ability to develop a [resilience] to weather changes and how to deal with these," she said.
- This article was originally published on page 2 of Sunday Independent on September 21, 2008
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