A disaster is unfolding in Cape Town . Three year in a row of dangerous drouth have left the second - most populous city in South Africa preparing for heavy water rationing and the equivalent of rolling blackouts for water .
“ All water must be conserved now , including non - drinking water from boreholes and other origin , ” Richard Bosman , the executive director of Safety and Security for Cape Town , write in an October letterannouncing the city ’s programme .
The goal is to shrink usage by 500 million cubic decimeter of water per day , the equivalent of 2,000 Olympics swimming pool . If the teetotal streak continues the city could implement rules that would mean “ large numbers of menage and job will be unable to get at pledge water in their homes and piazza of work . ”
Cape Town convey to this point following back - to - back - to - back dry years , the forged of which has been this year . The city has a climate similar to Los Angeles and other California cities with a wet winter — for the southerly hemisphere , that means June - August — followed by a dry summertime .
The rains just did n’t materialize this wintertime for Cape Town . They ’re presently dealing with a 12 - in rainfall deficit , a major shortfall for a city that only receives 20 in of rainfall per year on average . It ’s currently the driest year ever recorded in Cape Town since record keeping commence at the airport station in 1977 .
Last year , the second - driest on criminal record , ended with an 11.5 - inch deficit . And then there was 2015 , in which 7 inches of rainfall were missing , get to it the fourth - driest twelvemonth in Cape Town ’s history .
The dwindle away rainfall has make tub rings seeable from outer space on Theewaterskloof Reservoir , the city ’s main source envision above . NOAA ’s climate.govcaptured the view in detailand explained just how dire the water levels are :
“ The Theewaterskloof Reservoir currently stand at just 27.3 % of mental ability as of the remainder of October , a far cry from 2015 when it stood at 74.5 % of capacitance . This is the reservoir clearly funk in the above artificial satellite mental image . And while 27.3 % might seem like an already petite number , city officials take care to take note that the last 10 % of the dam ’s water is difficult to practice so the real useable urine floor is around 17.3 % ( 27.3 – 10 ) .
The drought has also taken a toll on other parts of the West Cape as well . about 50,000 farming jobs have dried upaccording to News24 . The same report also indicates the fall in wine production could cause $ 37.5 million in losses across the supplying chain .
scientist have n’t specifically attributed the drought to climate change , but it ’s certainly in line with mood drift . The South African Weather Serviceproduced a late reportthat shows Cape Town and much of the rest of South Africa are expected to dry out as the climate warms .
Cape Town could see a 20 percent decrease in rainfall by mid - century and a 25 percent simplification by the latter half of the twenty-first century if carbon pollution proceed on its current style . go up temperatures will only upraise the danger of drought further , something California dealt with during its recent epic drought .
That means regardless of the campaign of this drought , it ’s a prevue of what Cape Town ’s likely future is .
Climate changesouth africa
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