Two boys have drowned in South Africa while attempting to cool off from the heatwave being experienced in the country. The rise above normal temperatures in the country is expected to last through the weekend and is associated with the ‘Super El Nino’.
Northern parts of the South African nation such as Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga will be mostly affected according to the weather forecasts in the country. Pretoria showed an average of 29C temperatures for October in the forecasts but has been way above that from the beginning of the month with the last two days recording temperatures of 37C.
The heat is moving towards the south slowly with the KwaZulu-Natal expected to experience the rising temperatures soon. In KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg is going through the driest year in 100 years with temperatures projected to get to as high as 40s. Authorities have advised the public to conserve as much water as possible in preparation of a very dry summer.
Subtropical Southern Africa has had temperatures rise more than twice the global rate over the last 50 years. The ongoing heatwave in South Africa will not be the only event this year and neither will South Africa be the only country affected.
2015 may be the warmest year ever in Africa due to the global climate change and also because of the predicted super El Nino currently being witnessed in the pacific ocean according to a report by the council for Scientific and Industrial Research
The two boys aged 6 and 8 respectively, were with five other boys when they decided to cool off in a dam in Phalaborwa, South Africa. The police has urged parents to supervise their children swimming especially with the temperatures set to raise even higher.
