WINTERS HAVE BECOME VERY COLD

Sir,

Changes in weather conditions have been bizarre and unforeseen, perhaps unexplained too. In the centre of Eswatini, the Manzini Region, temperatures have dipped to all time lows in winter, sometimes drifting close to zero.

Winters have become very cold. At its worst, the sun is out, yet the thermometer reads 2 degrees Celsius at midday. These are conditions emaSwati are not accustomed to.

The older generation, who have survived through farming all their lives, hardly understand the changing weather patterns. When they observe a delay in rains, they immediately fear for the worst in terms of drought. Their thoughts become a source of stress.

Ultimatum

In Cape Town, in the first half of 2018, residents were handed an ultimatum to save water or prepare for what the government referred to as ‘day zero’. They had three months left of water supply as rains were scarce. The city was faced with a calamity. This begs the question of what would happen if the world was to completely run out of clean drinking water.

The near miss in Cape Town should serve as a reminder of the reality the world is faced with. If no action is taken, climate change will devastate the earth. Difficult decisions have to be made. Lack of action will surely lead to regret in the near future.

Rumbling

In Pretoria, as recent as December 2019, levels of flooding that have hardly been witnessed before occurred. Street lights were submerged in rumbling streams. The city was turned into a lake. People were trapped inside buildings and some houses were torn to the ground. Roads and bridges were destroyed by giant waves.

Pretoria is plus minus four hours from Mbabane; clearly trouble is not far from home. If there is science information explaining these changes, it must be used to take action. It is scientists, not politicians, who can come up with solutions. However, there must also be political will for the solutions to be found.
The human cost of cyclones, hurricanes and  monsoons will inevitably rise if nothing is done. There will be more disease outbreaks and countries that lack sufficient response will suffer greatly.

Politicians can no longer pretend to be blind to climate change. A change in mindset is necessary and it must occur expeditiously.
Perhaps there is a divide between politics and science where climate change is concerned. Scientists appear to have an open mind and they present evidence for their arguments. Politicians, on the other hand, seem unwilling to give up their position by compromising popularity. They will not be popular when coal mines close and people begin to lose jobs.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (January 2020), Greta Thunberg reminded leaders that ‘the world was burning’. Indeed it was and continues to do so. The truth is that climate change is happening and we have witnessed it. Therefore, it would be folly of anyone to deny reality.
Burroughs (2007), in ‘Climate Change; a Multidisciplinary Approach’, says the future course of the climate may well exert powerful constraints on economic development, especially in developing countries.

Mthunzi Maziya

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