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South Africa has been hit by several extreme weather events in recent months, including floods and rare tornadoes in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, flooding in the Eastern Cape, and a mid-latitude cyclone in the Western Cape. Kaitano Dube, a human geographer who studies tourism, extreme weather, and resilience to climate threats, said these severe storms will disrupt the tourism industry.
Is climate change affecting tourism in South Africa?
Rising carbon dioxide emissions are causing an increase in global temperatures, which is a major contributor to climate change. Temperatures have reached record highs in the past two years, especially in 2024. The occurrence and severity of extreme weather events, and the associated damage and losses, are increasing worldwide.
Human-induced climate change and climate variability are contributing to an increase in these extreme weather events, with coastal areas in Southern and Southern Africa suffering the most.
Coastal tourism has been hit hard by ocean storms, tropical cyclones, heatwaves, sea level rise, high seas, cyclones, wildfires, coastal and river flooding (river bursting its banks). Increased intensity of tropical and mid-latitude cyclones (heavy rainfall, winds and storm surges) has caused severe damage to coastal tourism infrastructure in South Africa’s coastal provinces, which are the tourism capitals.
Floods in KwaZulu-Natal in April 2022, exacerbated by climate change, killed 435 people and were the worst in the province’s history. Floods also occurred in KwaZulu-Natal in April 2024, destroying holiday homes, beaches and tourist infrastructure, turning tourist destinations into disaster areas.
What economic losses have the extreme weather caused to the tourism sector?
The damage caused by the extreme weather has caused huge losses to guesthouses, tourist destinations, hotels and adventure activity businesses. Economic potential and revenue has been lost in cities both big and small.
Floods in KwaZulu-Natal in 2022 caused an estimated R7 billion (US$387 million) in damages to 826 businesses, mostly in the tourism industry, and disrupted operations at King Shaka International Airport, a major tourism draw.
In June 2024, a tornado and a cut-off depression (an isolated mass of cold air in the upper atmosphere that tends to move slowly and often dumps large amounts of rain in one place) again destroyed a holiday home in KwaZulu-Natal. The weather also disrupted air traffic between Durban’s regional and international airports, forcing domestic and international flights to be diverted, at great cost.
Durban port has been hit by flooding, disrupting cruise ships and yachts, while Cape Town port is also vulnerable to gusts of wind, causing havoc for cruise ships, yachts and ferries travelling to Robben Island, a major tourist hub.
Extreme weather conditions are also affecting landlocked provinces such as Mpumalanga, and the Kruger National Park, one of Africa’s largest game reserves, covering around two million hectares. Drought is a concern. Flooding has increased in these parks, causing devastating damage to tourist infrastructure such as campsites, roads, bridges and picnic areas.
My research revealed that Mapungubwe National Park has at least nine flood-prone spots. Most of the flooding there is related to extreme weather events. Mapungubwe is also a World Heritage Site of great historical importance, as it was the site of the largest indigenous African kingdom in Southern Africa between 1200 and 1290.
Rising sea levels and tides are also a major threat to coastal tourism. There is a close connection between atmospheric and oceanic phenomena. Fronts, cyclones and storms that affect the west and east coasts of the country are the main triggers that cause storm surges, damage and destruction.
Blockage cyclones are also notorious for causing storm surges at sea, which can cause flooding along low-lying coasts, and more recently have been a problem in combination with spring tides and climate change, causing devastating damage to coastal facilities and generating dangerous surges (unusually large waves).
In my research into the impacts of rising sea levels on coastal national parks, I found that the most vulnerable coastal park is the Garden Route National Park on the Indian Ocean side of South Africa. Land within Tsitsikamma National Park, which is part of the Garden Route National Park, is at constant risk from rising sea levels and storm surges. During spring high tides, water gushes out from the ocean, flooding parts of the park.
The Knysna region of the Garden Route and the Cape Point area of Cape Town’s Table Mountain are expected to experience a sea level rise of one metre around 2100. Rising sea levels pose a threat to infrastructure, heritage sites, beaches, tourism workers and the safety of visitors.
Increased frequency of fires and heatwaves also pose a risk to several coastal tourist destinations. National parks most vulnerable to increased fire activity include Table Mountain National Park and Garden Route National Park.
What can be done to prevent such damage to tourism?
Development plans for tourism infrastructure along the coasts need to be reconsidered: it must be made more resilient and more adaptable, and it may be necessary to move away from high-risk areas to reduce damage and losses.
Infrastructure and buildings will need to be designed for climate resilience, especially in flood-prone areas. Urban planners will need to take into account calculations of maximum possible floods in a particular area. Building codes will need to be adjusted to accommodate new climate scenarios.
These adaptation measures must be supported by strong early warning systems to reduce losses. Adequate disaster and business insurance must be in place to ensure tourism is resilient to climate hazards. This must be supported by progressive policies and technologies aimed at building resilience to climate change.
Courtesy of The Conversation
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Citation: Q&A: Extreme weather in South Africa disrupts tourism – Study tracks impacts on coastal communities (July 9, 2024) Retrieved July 9, 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2024-07-qa-extreme-weather-south-africa.html
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