Drought is a major environmental problem in South Africa. It is a period of below-average precipitation, resulting in water shortages and crop failure. The cause of droughts is complex, but human activities can play a role in triggering them. This article looks at how human activity can trigger droughts in South Africa.
Drought in South Africa
South Africa is a semi-arid country, and is prone to droughts. Droughts can occur naturally due to changes in atmospheric circulation patterns, or due to a lack of rainfall. Droughts can also be caused by human activities, such as over-exploitation of water resources, deforestation, and land-use changes.
South Africa has experienced several major droughts in recent years. The most severe was in 2018-2019, when the country experienced its worst drought in more than a century. This drought caused water shortages and crop failure, leading to food insecurity and economic hardship.
How Human Activity Triggers Droughts
Human activities can trigger droughts in several ways. Over-exploitation of water resources is one of the major causes. South Africa is a water-scarce country, and water is used for many purposes, such as agriculture, industry and domestic use. When water is over-exploited, it can lead to water shortages and droughts.
Deforestation is another major cause of drought in South Africa. Trees play an important role in the water cycle, as they absorb water from the soil and release it into the atmosphere. When trees are removed, this disrupts the water cycle, leading to reduced rainfall and droughts.
Land-use changes can also trigger droughts. These changes can include urbanization, agriculture, and mining. These activities can lead to soil erosion, which reduces the amount of water that can be absorbed by the soil. This can lead to reduced rainfall and droughts.
In conclusion, droughts are a major environmental problem in South Africa. They can be caused by natural factors, but human activities can also play a role in triggering them. Over-exploitation of water resources, deforestation, and land-use changes can all lead to droughts. It is therefore important for South Africans to be aware of how their activities can affect the environment, and to take steps to reduce their impact.
Droughts are a harsh climatic event which can wreak havoc on agriculture and economy in certain areas of the world, one of which is South Africa. Human activities have been seen to be directly or indirectly responsible for triggering droughts. These activities include climate change, deforestation, over extraction of natural resources and poor water use management.
Climate Change
Climate change is widely accepted as a major contributing factor for unusually widespread and intense droughts in South Africa. Intense droughts have been occurring since the start of the new millennium, but have become increasingly more frequent since then. The number of droughts has been increasing due to the intensification of global warming trend and resulting climate change in South Africa. For example, temperature increases have caused more precipitation to fall as rain instead of snow thus decreasing the water stored in South Africa’s snow-covered mountains.
Deforestation
Another human activity, deforestation, is largely responsible for South Africa’s droughts. The process of deforestation involves the cutting down of trees, which results in a decrease in renewable supplies of water. This makes the land less able to absorb the rain, thus decreasing the amount of water available for the plants, animals, and people that inhabit the area. Removing trees also changes the precipitation and temperature of the area, which can further exacerbate the effects of the drought.
Over-Exploitation of Natural Resources
The over-exploitation of natural resources, particularly groundwater, can contribute to problems like droughts. Groundwater resources in South Africa are important as they provide a reserve of water during droughts. However, these reserves have been over-exploited in recent years due to population growth and agricultural requirements. The result is a depleted groundwater supply, which isn’t able to restore itself to the level it was at prior to the over-exploitation.
Poor Water Use Management
The last human activity that affects droughts in South Africa is poor water use management. This includes the lack of planning of water use and water recycling, as well as inadequate water infrastructure. This leads to an increased demand for water from natural sources, which cannot be met, resulting in water shortages in already drought-prone areas.
In conclusion, human activities are a major cause of droughts in South Africa. These activities include climate change, deforestation, over exploitation of natural resources and poor water use management. It is important that we take action in order to reduce the effects of these activities, in order to reduce the frequency and intensity of droughts in the future.