[vox_mundi]

South Africa's Western Cape declares drought disaster

South Africa's Western Cape province has declared a drought disaster as it faces its worst water shortage in 113 years.

Provincial leader Helen Zille said water will be harvested by drilling boreholes to serve key points like hospitals in Cape Town.

She also announced plans to use a mobile desalination plant and tap the natural aquifer under Cape Town's Table Mountain.

She also referred to desalination plants as being hailed as a possible alternative, but said there was no way it could be built to scale quickly enough to compensate for such a drought.

Residents have also been urged not to use no more than 100 litres (22 gallons) of water a day.

Southern African nations are reeling from a two-year drought.

Two reservoirs in the Western Cape region are already completely dry according to official statistics.

By Friday the dam levels were already at 21, 6% down from 70% in 2015 at the start of water restrictions. Kaiser said on the brink of winter when heavier rains are expected, meteorologists now warn this winter will be as dry as the previous two.

“Nothing can be taken for granted anymore,” she said and invited delegates to use water sparingly during their stay in the city.

The Karoo and West Coast areas of the Western Cape previously declared drought disasters in 2016, but Monday's announcement extends the scope of those emergency measures to the entire province, the AFP news agency reports.

The UN estimates that over 40 million people have been affected by the drought that was caused by the El Nino climate phenomenon.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201705180429.html

[onlooker]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 79016.html
Yemen is getting the four horsemen of the Apocalypse
Death, Plague, War and Famine
God help those people

[M_B_S]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40002770



22 May 2017

South Africa's Western Cape province has declared a drought disaster as it faces its worst water shortage in 113 years.
Provincial leader Helen Zille said water will be harvested by drilling boreholes to serve key points like hospitals in Cape Town.
The alert will last for three months but could be extended if the crisis persists, she said in a statement.
Southern African nations are reeling from a two-year drought.
The UN estimates that over 40 million people have been affected by the drought that was caused by the El Nino climate phenomenon.
************************
The climate Mad Max Scenario now and in colour @ 410 ppm CO2 level

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEJnMQG9ev8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWNWi-ZWL3c

[ROCKMAN]

"...as it faces its worst water shortage in 113 years." So it had even worse droughts before AGW generated climate change would have been a factor?

[dissident]

I wonder if the dreaded South African mega drought desaster is anything like the dreaded California drought desaster lol

If you were paying attention instead of laughing it off like some troll, the frequency of 1000 year and 100 year events has been shrinking so that they are now 100 year and 10 year events. Don't assume California is not going to see a similar drought until decades and centuries in the future.

[M_B_S]

Dont feed the ignorant its hopeless.

German migrants are coming home because their farms in SA ARE NOW A DESERT.

MBS

[kiwichick]

@ mbs..........+1

It is not hard to see something similar happening in Australia, for example, as in many inland areas of Australia , Queensland, NSW, the North West corner of Vic, S.A. and the South West of W.A., the crops, particularly grains, are entirely dependent on seasonal rain, in Queensland it's the monsoon's and in the southern states it's winter/spring rainfall that's critical.

Most of them are also temperature sensitive, so that even a run of 3 or 4 days with extreme temps can significantly impact on the yield, especially if combined with low rainfall.

[M_B_S]

@ mbs..........+1

It is not hard to see something similar happening in Australia, for example, as in many inland areas of Australia , Queensland, NSW, the North West corner of Vic, S.A. and the South West of W.A., the crops, particularly grains, are entirely dependent on seasonal rain, in Queensland it's the monsoon's and in the southern states it's winter/spring rainfall that's critical.

Most of them are also temperature sensitive, so that even a run of 3 or 4 days with extreme temps can significantly impact on the yield, especially if combined with low rainfall.

Correct and when it rains one day in ten or fifty years in the Kalahary dersert or Namib the flowers are exploding but its still a desert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-oIUDL2frc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdgPLyIbp0Q

[M_B_S]

Cape Town cuts back to survive 'stubborn' drought
Authorities call on residents of South African city to limit showers to two minutes and flush toilets only if necessary.



Local authorities have declared Cape Town and the surrounding Western Cape province a disaster area, with less than 10 percent of usable water left in the dams supplying the region.

"Dam levels are at 9.7 percent. #ThinkWaterCT and use below 100 litres per person, per day," the government said on its official Twitter account on Tuesday....
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/06/c ... 58563.html
***************************

The climate Mad Max Scenario NOW and in colour

@ 410 ppm Co2 and 1850 ppb CH4 in our atmosphere

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEJnMQG9ev8


=> +++ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWNWi-ZWL3c +++ <=

PEAK OIL <=> PEAK WATER <=> PEAK FOOD => PEAK WAR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akX3Is3qBpw

[dohboi]

One upside of the otherwise horrific deadly storm that that just hit down there is that it brought some much needed rain:

Eight killed as drought ends

The storm comes two weeks after the region declared a drought disaster.
...
It is the worst winter storm for 30 years, according to the South African Weather Service, while local media have dubbed it "the mother of all storms".
...
In May, the Western Cape province declared a drought disaster after two reservoirs had completely dried up. It was said to have been the region's worst drought in more than a century.

Several other southern African nations were also affected by the two-year drought, which was caused by the El Nino climate phenomenon.
...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40185177

By the way, this--and versions far, far more intense on both sides of the equation--is exactly what is predicted to happen in more and more regions as GW really takes hold--desicating droughts that last years followed by deadly, torrential rains.

[dohboi]

Florida drought still 'extreme' (second to highest category in the scale).

Drought now spreading into the Dakotas, with a surrounding 'abnormally dry' area that extends into the northwest corner of my state, Minnesota.

Gotta get up early in the morning tomorrow to water my garden!

[dohboi]

New weekly map just came out.

Florida got some relief, but the drought in the Dakotas and beyond has deepened and spread.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

[M_B_S]

http://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=37937

**********************

In my region water emergency is in place our groundwater is sinking rapidly and our own water well is dead since 2016

Germany 2017 rain deficit up to 60%

M_B_S

[dissident]

Expect the frequency and intensity of such events to increase around the globe. (Together with deluge rain events). Idiots who think we will adapt have no clue what is happening.

[M_B_S]

@pstarr

Idiot = Idiot <=> 0=0

This identity holds

q.e.d.

M_B_S

[Whitefang]

Count me in on the 60% drop.....farmers here in my lowlands are getting worried, especially potato, nederwiet, usually homegrown dope is doing just fine though, pesty police choppers are keeping a weary infrared eye on them.
I quit smoking this year, finally as it eats up energy time and money....
Dumbo me.

[vox_mundi]

India's wells are running dry, fast

For the past 2,500 years, India has managed its water needs by increasing supply.

Prior to industrialisation and the accompanying global "green revolution" in the 1960s, which saw the development of high-yield variety crops using new technologies, India's water availability was plentiful. Households, industries and farmers freely extracted groundwater and dumped untreated waste into waterways without a second thought.

But such practices are now increasingly untenable in this rapidly growing country. Per capita availability of water has been steadily falling for over a decade, dropping from 1,816 cubic metres per person in 2001 to 1,545 cubic metres in 2011.

The decline is projected to deepen in coming years as the population grows. India, which currently has 1.3 billion people, is set to overtake China by 2022 and reach 1.7 billion in 2050.

For nearly 50 years, a misguided groundwater policy has sucked India dry; water tables have declined by an average of one metre every three years in some parts of the Indus basin, turning it into the second most over-stressed aquifer in the world, according to NASA.

Across nearly the whole country, basic sewage management is also lacking. According to the Third World Centre for Water Management, only about 10% of waste water in the country is collected and properly treated. As a result, all water bodies in and around urban centres are seriously polluted.

Even so, residents of New Delhi or Kolkata today use more than twice as much water, on average, than people in Singapore, Leipzig, Barcelona or Zaragoza, according to data compiled by the Third World Research Centre.

The water use in Delhi is 220 litres per capita per day (lpcd), while some European cities boast figures of 95 to 120 lpcd.

Excess consumption is attributable in part to citizen indifference about conserving water after so many years of plentiful supply. Since large swaths of many Indian megacities lack piped supply of clean water, leaks and theft are common. Cities in India lose 40% to 50% due to leakages and non-authorised connections.

And after millennia of exclusive focus on expanding the water supply, the idea of curbing water consumption and increase reuse remains a mostly alien concept in India.

... Water scarcity in Karnataka is aggravated by non-existent water quality management. Its rivers are choked with toxic pollutants, and oil-suffused lakes in Bengaluru, the capital, are reportedly catching fire. Meanwhile, in the northern part of the country, the Ravi-Beas River is causing conflict between Punjab and Haryana states.

In India's water wars, rivers are a resource to be harnessed and extracted for each riparian party's maximum benefit. Very little emphasis has been placed on conserving and protecting existing water sources. And not one inter-state negotiation has prioritised pollution abatement or demand management.

Between rapidly disappearing fresh water, unchecked pollution and so many thirsty citizens, India is facing an impending water crisis unlike anything prior generations have seen. If the nation does not begin aggressively conserving water, the faucets will run soon dry. There is simply no more supply to misuse.

Small climb in mean temperatures linked to far higher chance of deadly heat waves

An increase in mean temperature of 0.5 degrees Celsius over half a century may not seem all that serious, but it's enough to have more than doubled the probability of a heat wave killing in excess of 100 people in India, according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions.

This could have grim implications for the future, because mean temperatures are projected to rise by 2.2 to 5.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century in the low- and mid-latitude countries of the Asian subcontinent, the Middle East, Africa and South America.

Using data gathered by the India Meteorological Department from 1960 to 2009, the UCI-led team analyzed changes in summer temperatures; the frequency, severity and duration of heat waves; and heat-related deaths.

They found that when mean summer temperatures in the South Asia nation went from 27 to 27.5 degrees Celsius, the probability of a heat wave killing more than 100 people grew from 13 percent to 32 percent -- an increase of 146 percent.

In real terms, there were only 43 and 34 heat-related fatalities in 1975 and 1976, respectively, when the mean summer temperature was about 27.4 degrees Celsius. However, at least 1,600 people died from excessive heat in 1998, when the mean summer temperature was higher than 28 degrees Celsius.

The average number of heat wave days over the five-decade study period was 7.3 per year. The most heat wave days occurred in 1998 (18), when 1,655 people died, and 2003 (13), when 1,500 people died.


http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/ ... gures-data

[onlooker]

India's wells are running dry, fast

For the past 2,500 years, India has managed its water needs by increasing supply.

Prior to industrialisation and the accompanying global "green revolution" in the 1960s, which saw the development of high-yield variety crops using new technologies, India's water availability was plentiful. Households, industries and farmers freely extracted groundwater and dumped untreated waste into waterways without a second thought.

But such practices are now increasingly untenable in this rapidly growing country. Per capita availability of water has been steadily falling for over a decade, dropping from 1,816 cubic metres per person in 2001 to 1,545 cubic metres in 2011.

The decline is projected to deepen in coming years as the population grows. India, which currently has 1.3 billion people, is set to overtake China by 2022 and reach 1.7 billion in 2050.

For nearly 50 years, a misguided groundwater policy has sucked India dry; water tables have declined by an average of one metre every three years in some parts of the Indus basin, turning it into the second most over-stressed aquifer in the world, according to NASA.

Across nearly the whole country, basic sewage management is also lacking. According to the Third World Centre for Water Management, only about 10% of waste water in the country is collected and properly treated. As a result, all water bodies in and around urban centres are seriously polluted.

Even so, residents of New Delhi or Kolkata today use more than twice as much water, on average, than people in Singapore, Leipzig, Barcelona or Zaragoza, according to data compiled by the Third World Research Centre.

The water use in Delhi is 220 litres per capita per day (lpcd), while some European cities boast figures of 95 to 120 lpcd.

Excess consumption is attributable in part to citizen indifference about conserving water after so many years of plentiful supply. Since large swaths of many Indian megacities lack piped supply of clean water, leaks and theft are common. Cities in India lose 40% to 50% due to leakages and non-authorised connections.

And after millennia of exclusive focus on expanding the water supply, the idea of curbing water consumption and increase reuse remains a mostly alien concept in India.

... Water scarcity in Karnataka is aggravated by non-existent water quality management. Its rivers are choked with toxic pollutants, and oil-suffused lakes in Bengaluru, the capital, are reportedly catching fire. Meanwhile, in the northern part of the country, the Ravi-Beas River is causing conflict between Punjab and Haryana states.

In India's water wars, rivers are a resource to be harnessed and extracted for each riparian party's maximum benefit. Very little emphasis has been placed on conserving and protecting existing water sources. And not one inter-state negotiation has prioritised pollution abatement or demand management.

Between rapidly disappearing fresh water, unchecked pollution and so many thirsty citizens, India is facing an impending water crisis unlike anything prior generations have seen. If the nation does not begin aggressively conserving water, the faucets will run soon dry. There is simply no more supply to misuse.

The sequel to overshoot is always die off. An ecological maxim

[dohboi]

Thanks for this info, WF. Do you have any links on the situation in the Netherlands/Belgium?

[M_B_S]

Thanks for this info, WF. Do you have any links on the situation in the Netherlands/Belgium?

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2 ... continues/

http://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/85 ... age-summer

http://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/85 ... to-drought

M_B_S