Winter rain is falling in the Cape but experts warn it’s not nearly enough to stave off a water crisis next year
BLURRY snaps of rain spattered windscreens, pictures of grey skies and open umbrellas – these days when it’s raining in Cape Town the whole world knows about it because it instantly triggers a deluge of weather-related posts on Twitter and Facebook.
With the city narrowly avoiding Day Zero – the day the taps were due to run dry – it makes sense that residents want to share their sense of relief. So does this mean they can celebrate by taking a hot bath instead of a bucket shower?
Not so fast – the rain hasn’t washed the crisis away, it’s merely postponed it, say city officials and weather and water experts. With serious concerns around rainfall prospects and dams remaining at crisis levels there’s still a threat that Cape Town could become the world’s first major city to have its taps run dry. Here’s why everyone should be worried.
JUST A DROP IN THE OCEAN
After three years of below-average rainfall the Cape Town metropole – where most people in the Western Cape live – has pinned its hopes on the winter rain to help it play catch-up. But based on rainfall figures so far, it seems hopes for an above-average year were in vain.
Hydro-climatologist Dr Piotr Wolski at the University of Cape Town’s Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG) spells it out.
“In March we could’ve hoped for a wet year. Now we know it’s unlikely,” he says.
Figures going all the way back to 1930 show that the amount of rainfall by the end of April gives an indication of what kind of rainy season can be expected. If that rainfall is above average, there’s a good chance the rest of the season will also be above average.
But sadly it seems we’re in for another below-average year. The SA Weather Service says the long-term average for its Kirstenbosch station in April is 88,3mm. This year it was at 75,4mm.
この記事は YOU South Africa の 31 May 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は YOU South Africa の 31 May 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
PUSHED TO THE LIMIT
The unusual relationship between an heiress and her husband has taken a sinister twist
HOW TO MAKE A SUPERBABY
Noor Siddiqui says her company can test embryos for hundreds of conditions from diabetes to Alzheimer's. Critics call it social engineering but she insists she's just giving prospective parents the means to avoid a lot of future heartache
THE GROWN-UP BRAIN
If you think your brain deteriorates as you age, think again!
THE eyes HAVE IT
They're the windows to our soul - and the first place to show the stresses of everyday life. Juliette Winter reveals expert tips to de-puff, brighten and smooth this delicate area
WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER
It hasn't been an easy road but now this bodybuilding couple are making waves in the industry
I CAN'T WAIT FOR SUMMER!
Annetjie's about to get effective treatment for the skin condition that has blighted her life and she's looking forward to hitting the shops and facing the world
'SHE NO THREAT TO ANYONE'
When SA boxer Chris van Heerden's Russian girlfriend went to visit her parents she was thrown in jail and accused of treasonnow he's in a fight to free her
SUNK IN 16 MINUTES!
A sun-drenched holiday turned into a living nightmare for those aboard this luxury vessel
READY TO SMILE AGAIN
A groundbreaking surgical procedure will restore this Limpopo teen's badly damaged jaw and teeth
HARRY AT A CROSSROADS
As the prince turns 40, royal experts paint a picture of a troubled soul- isolated, homesick and struggling to find a purpose in life