South Africa is the number one economy
in Africa. Yet it has come to a time when they have to ration water in Cape
Town. Potable water. I am going to quote the definition of ration from the
Advance English Dictionary in its verb form to clarify the situation. The
quotation follows: “restrict the consumption of a relatively scarce commodity,
as during war”.
Water ought not to be scarce given
that it is a basic necessity in the sustenance of the very life of man, and
other life forms too. More so, in a city as urbanized as Cape Town. However,
that is what it has come to, and not in war time! Taps in homes may be shut off
in May, 2018 by current calculations.
Cape Town is located at the southern
tip of South Africa where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean meet. Cape
Town is a peninsula. Its latitude/ longitude is 33° 55’ S, 18° 25’ E.
DROUGHT
Potable water or drinkable water is
water that is tubed into our homes. In your home when you turn on the tap
potable water flows out from the tube for use. This morning when I got up from
bed, I turned on the tap, scooped some water to wash my face. After attending
to the garden I got into the bathroom and turn on the shower, and washed
myself. I have used water to wash dishes, after meals. In between these
activities I have been drinking water. I am saying all this to show you the
practical necessity of potable water in our lives. Indeed, as hinted, it is a
vital necessity.
Potable water is sourced from rivers,
aquifers, streams and lakes. For the water to be harness from its source,
treated and tubed into our homes, it must be available at the source in the
first place. If it is not available at the source, it then cannot be harnessed,
treated and tubed into our homes for use. Then again, if the quantity of water
at the source reduces, the potable water that we get in our homes should reduce
too, proportionately.
The cause of the water rationing is
that Cape Town is facing a three-year drought. The reservoir or dam from which
Cape Town gets its water supply is drying up as a result of the three-year
drought. Climate change researchers are saying it is a new normal, and
attributable to climate change.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Now let us get the linkages clear. Treated
tap water which gets into homes is sourced from the dam or reservoir which in
turn gets its water from the river and the river in turn gets its water from
rain. Because the rain, the main source of water stopped coming, the ultimate
effect is what Cape Town is experiencing- taps getting dry, to be dead dry for
the many by May, 2018. Because of the critical and fundamental importance of
rain as demonstrated, the people of Cape Town leapt for joy when after the
three year drought it rained for once this February. But the question is, is
this one time rain enough to bring relief to the people of Cape Town?
If rain is of such fundamental and
critical importance what should cause it to stop coming, giving rise to
unpleasant consequence such as drought resulting in the potable water shortage Cape
Town is experiencing now?
I have indicated that what is
happening in Cape Town has been attributed to climate change, and has been
described as a new normal. If you know how rain is formed then you should know
how important the atmosphere is for rain formation and fall. It is even
obvious, without scientific knowledge, to know that rain comes from above. It
is also obvious that clouds carry rain. For rain to form and fall into rivers
that are dammed for treatment and supply of potable water to our homes, the
atmospheric conditions, among others, must be right.
GREENHOUSE GASES
However, the Earth’s surface
atmosphere is filled with greenhouse gases. The Earth’s atmosphere is filled
with greenhouse gases as a result of the activities of man here on Earth. Examples
of greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor etc. The buildup of the greenhouse gases as a result of
the activities of man is the cause of what is called global warming. It is this
global warming the Earth is experiencing that is causing changes in set
rainfall patterns- climate change. Global warming causes dysfunctions in the
movement of water from land and rivers by evaporation, and from plants by
transpiration, into the atmosphere. The result of this experience is drier
places on Earth. Some of the drier places are Southern Africa (Cape Town which
is the case study of this post), parts of the United States of America, Sahel
region of Africa, parts of Asia, Australia etc. Interestingly, clouds that form
rain are fed with water vapor from rivers through evaporation!
ACTIVITIES OF MAN
It is logical and reasonable for one to
want to know what man does here on planet Earth to cause a buildup of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Man does a whole lot of things to cause a
buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which in turn causes climate
change (drought). The following are some of the things man does here on Earth
that leads, eventually, to rationing of potable water due to drought, as is
happening in Cape Town now:
- Deforestation
- Burning of fossil fuel (coal, oil and natural gas)
- Industrialization
- Decomposition of dead vegetation
- Burning of vegetation
- Population explosion
However, not everybody believes that
the unusual changes in set climate patterns, such as the Cape Town drought, are
caused by human activities here on Earth. There is a school of thought who
holds that climate change is as a result of natural causes, for example solar
cyclical changes. But then majority of informed experts are of the conviction
that the bizarre occurrences in climate, like the drought in Cape Town, is for
sure due to human activities here on planet Earth.
As a summary, I have indicated that
the taps in Cape Town are running dry, and would become dead dry for the many
by May, 2018. The cause of the drying taps is as a result of drought Cape Town
is experiencing for 3 years. In trying to trace the cause of the drought, I
realized that climate change experts say the drought is a climate change
drought, and that it is a new normal. That prompted me to delve into climate
change which I have said is as a result of global warming. Probing deeper to
get the ultimate root cause, I went on to state that global warming itself is
triggered by human activities, this being the conviction of majority of
informed experts, and indicated some of such activities.
PARTING SHOT
From what I have stated in this post,
it means that what you and I as mankind are doing here on planet Earth is what
is ruining the natural environment which is our only home yet. We are searching
the universe to find a place like ours; we have not found it yet though! It is
obvious we have not managed the natural environment as expected of us. Cape
Town is not the only place suffering from climate change drought on planet
Earth. And drought is not the only way through which man is destroying the
natural environment. Look at how we are destroying our water bodies with
plastic waste! Experts are saying that what man is doing to the natural
environment is pushing our civilization to a tipping point.
Climate change is not to blame for the
water ration in Cape Town; man is to blame for the water ration in Cape Town!
The current trend of thought as a way out is the sustainable way
of using the natural environment. The United Nations is a thought leader in
this revolutionary path. It is a way of renewable thought and use of natural
resources. It is a way of using natural resources in the natural environment so
as not to deprive each and every constituent of the natural environment,
current and future, their share of natural resources in the natural
environment. It is a green revolution. It is a green way of living. It is a
green life style.
Reduce your carbon footprint as you inversely increase your
green footprint! As we reduce our carbon footprint in a radical way in
particular, rivers should retain their water content to ensure sustained
potable water supply to our homes, putting such Cape Town situations behind us eventually.
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