One of hottest Decembers
Last month was Mossel Bay's fifth hottest December on record. Most days were sunny. The rainfall for December was below normal, according to the South African Weather Service.
The average maximum was 23.4C. Although Mossel Bay does not have a tap water shortage, the terrain is extremely dry.
Extensive development
Mossel Bay has seen extensive development recently, especially in areas such as Dana Bay, Island View and Dias, where vegetation has been eradicated to make way for housing.
The Mossel Bay Advertiser asked Dr Peter Johnston, a climate scientist at the University of Cape Town, if deforestation contributed to higher temperatures. He said: "Altering the surface has an impact on the microclimate. If you replace trees with cement, temperatures increase. Concrete radiates heat after dark.
Water evaporates quickly
"Because man-made surfaces are impermeable water evaporates quickly. This increases the 'heat island' - the plume of warm air over a town."
But Dr Johnston said deforestation was high unlikely to affect rainfall in Mossel Bay.
"The rain originates far away - from systems in the Atlantic Ocean."
SA Weather Service staffer Musa Mkhwanazi supplied this statement: "There is evidence deforestation has significant effects on the weather. The impacts range from changes in local microclimate to contributions to global climate change. Forests are able to sequester carbon, absorb
sunlight, process water and block the wind.
"Trees cool the land surface and produce moisture. Any changes in land use can alter the rainfall by intervening in the process of the heat energy flux and evapotranspiration of the earth surface. The conversion of forests to urban [surface] disrupts the natural cycle of evapotranspiration, causing a reduction in rainfall due to the low humidity of the atmosphere."
Animals dying
Farmers continue to complain of the drought and their animals dying.
When asked about the possible cause of the drought in the greater Mossel Bay area and the Karoo, Dr Johnston said: "The reason is unclear. Perhaps it is caused by natural variability, not directly by climate change."
He said hotter conditions could be experienced due to less rain, therefore it is hotter, with less cloud water, causing evaporative cooling.
"We can't say it's hot because of global warming, but it does fit into projections and is indicative of the sort of temperatures we have been predicting."
Discussing the drought in the Karoo, Dr Johnston said: "Dams and boreholes have dried up, so the impact of the drought is huge. More people are affected than in previous years." He noted that the population had grown.
"More people are depending on less water, so the impact is higher."
Alien vegetation
When asked about the effect alien vegetation had on ground water, Dr Johnston said: "Trees such as the Port Jackson willow and rooipitjie must be removed.
Removal of aliens was the reponsibility of nature conservation and private land owners, he noted.
He said Working on fire and Working on Water were doing the most to remove aliens, via the Expanded Public Works Programme.
It was vital to replace aliens with indigenous vegetation. "This is excellent for run-off and for the atmosphere." Good management of alien vegetation removal and replacement was imperative.
Farmers told the Mossel Bay Advertiser of their struggle in the drought.
Nico Lerm, who farms antelope, sheep, goats and beef on 2 000 hectares between Mossel Bay and Albertinia, said: "In the last six years we have had almost no rain. There's no ground water and the dams are empty.
"I have staff, animals and Eskom bills to pay." Lerm obtains water using tankers from the Gouritz River. He notes that in the last five years the river has not flowed out to sea. On Tuesday, 15 January, his wife, Sonette, sent the Advertiser a photograph of a buffalo cow that had died. It was the fifth of their herd of buffalo to die.
Fetch water
Kobus Crous, who farms near Hartenbos, said: "I fetch water using a tanker. I have to give my game pellets and lucerne to eat." He has been reliant on the Hartebeeskuil Dam, which is almost empty.
Hendrik Pienaar, who farms near Herbertsdale, said if he went by what his father had said and by his own experience, it was the worst drought in about 170 years.
From February 2016 until now had been dire, Pienaar said. It was more than three years since the Gouritz River had flowed through the Poort in the Langeberg and this river had the largest catchment area of any river in South Africa, he pointed out.
He was spending massive amounts on animal feed and had received help from Burre Burger and Boere in Nood, the NG
Kerk Charl Cellier-gemeente and Gift of the Givers.