Heatwave conditions are expected to continue across most parts of the country, until Wednesday, according to the South African Weather Service.
"A heatwave with persistently high temperatures is expected over the Northern Cape except the south-western parts, the northern interior of the Eastern Cape, the Free State, North West, the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo," the forecaster said.
Saws said isolated showers, mostly confined in the eastern and central parts of the country accompanied by most hot to very hot temperatures, however no severe weather warnings are expected.
Experts have revealed that 2024 is on track to being the 'hottest year on record'.
Calling the weather changes an "unprecedented spell of extraordinary heat", the Copernicus Climate Change Service said average global temperatures have been pushed high between January and November.
According to Professor Francois Engelbrecht, president of the South African Society for Atmospheric Sciences, the world's the world is 1,5 degrees Celsius warmer than it was in preindustrial times.
Speaking at the 38th Annual Conference of the South African Society for Atmospheric Sciences at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU) in October, he noted that it was first time the SASAS conference has taken place when the world’s average temperature has been 1,5 °C higher for more than a year since official recordings began.
The consequences have already been dire, and if temperatures keep rising, the consequences will be catastrophic. Heat waves, wildfires, flooding cyclones, hurricanes and tornadoes have been some of the hallmarks of climate change that have devastated the globe in 2024.
The effects cannot be reversed, but an escalation can be stopped.
Prof Engelbrecht called for an increased focus on climate change adaptation, including developing early warning systems capable of handling unprecedented future extreme weather events.
seanne.rall@iol.co.za
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