THERE were reports on Monday on Facebook of snow on the mountain tops at Bushman’s Nek. Snow in these parts is not unusual, unless we consider that Monday was dated 2 February, the hottest month of the year in these parts.
We have all heard the urban (rural?) legends that snow has been recorded in every month of the year in the little town of Himeville in the Drakensberg and, no doubt, in other little towns on the high ground of KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere.
Freak weather has always been with us, but the frequency with which it now occurs points to the possibility that human behaviour has set the chain of climate change in motion and it is gaining momentum as we continue to ignore the warning signs.
Driving to work in torrential rain on Monday morning and being caught in traffic jams all over Pinetown, one long wait after the other, I watched in fascination the rivulets of water steaming into the roads and gutters from tarred driveways.
We expect nature to act as an orderly, obedient child, yet we place obstacles in the path of our nurturing mother which are making her a tad angry.
For example, new neighbours in my neck of the woods have removed all the grass and shrubs in their garden and covered the entire yard in concrete. Add to this disaster the fact that this house is on the banks of a small stream that seeps from a wetland across the road. This miracle of nature was, in a shortsighted town planning debacle, drained and destroyed by the building of a sports club many decades ago. But no matter how much soil and rubble is dumped on this last reminder of how things should be, the water continues to run from this place to form a small stream which feeds into the Umbilo River about a kilometre away.
The point about the concrete ‘garden’ is that instead of water seeping into the ground, it runs off at a pace into this little steam which then becomes a torrent. While it may not effect the people with an aversion to grass, it may well affect their neighbours when this river bursts its banks.
It seems that we are mostly of the opinion that our small acts, contrary to what earth needs, will not impact negatively on our space, but when all these hard surfaces are added together they form a formidable catalyst for disaster. Don’t think that our actions, and our concrete and tar, roofs and hard landscaping are not responsible for the flooding and the accompanying damage and hardship wrought by water at full force.
But the really significant thing about 2 February is that it was World Wetlands Day, which went by without any fanfare.
Since 1900, 64 per cent of all wetlands in the world have disappeared, yet the future of humanity depends on their existence. They purify and replenish our water – acting as sponges they release water at a slow, steady pace, preventing flooding and ensuring that the soil provides the requirements for growing vegetation ideal for the breeding of fish and the planting of rice, which feeds millions of people.
The destroyed wetland which made way for a sports club may not be of any significance when compared to Kosi Bay, Langebaan, St Lucia and the like, but it is the ignorance that went in to its destruction that is of concern.
Hopefully our mindsets have changed since the 40s and 50s and we will all make an effort to protect wetlands, no mater how small, and to think before we add more hard surfaces to our environment.
