The False Death of Victoria Falls | Society

The Victoria Falls, with which the famous Scottish explorer David Livingstone stumbled in 1855 in his unstoppable eagerness to evangelize, and which Zimbabwe and Zambia share today, are about 100 meters high and 1.7 kilometers long, which coincides with the width of the river at this point. Its flow varies according to the time of the year, with peaks at the end of the wet season, around April and May, and valleys at the end of the dry season, between October and November. According to Zambeze River Authority, With records for 110 years, the maximum water flow was reached in 1956, with about 10 million liters per second, and the minimum annual average during the terrible drought of 1995 and 1996, with 390,000 liters per second. The average annual long-term flow is 1.1 million liters per second.

These pictures of the Victoris Falls are a stark reminder of what climate change is doing to our environment and our livelihood.
It is with no doubt that developing countries like #Zambia are the most impacted by climate change and the least able to afford its consequences. pic.twitter.com/a6X0V2TrEQ

- Edgar Chagwa Lungu (@EdgarCLungu) October 1, 2019

In periods of lower flow and at the height of the falls, water tends to go to the deepest part of the riverbed, which coincides with the side of Zimbabwe. This causes that by the section of waterfall that belongs to Zambia, higher, practically the water does not precipitate. That image, that of the formidable basalt block of the totally dry falls, was the one that moved thousands of people around the world after Zambian President Edgar Lungu tweeted it on October 1 with the following comment: “ These photos are a clear reminder of what climate change is doing to our environment and our livelihood. ”

Although Lungu failed to say that this image is repeated every year and that at just 500 meters the water flowed normally for that time (in fact 11% more flow than the average of the last 15 years for the same day, according to the historical data of the Zambeze River Authority), the truth is that achieved the objective of attracting the attention of the international press, alerted to the possibility that the falls were drying up.

However, the reality is that only a part of them dries up in October and November and that this happens every year. Even more, according to a recent study by professors Kaitano Dube and Godwell Nhamo, who have investigated rainfall and temperature patterns and their impact on tourism in the last 40 years, “surprisingly, against the speculation that Victoria Falls they were drying up, an annual flow increase was observed at the Victoria Falls measurement point ”and, at the same time, an increase in water reduction in the months of October and November. "Multiple factors directly related to climate change contribute to this," says Professor Dube, such as "the increase in temperature and a change in rainfall patterns."

Between 1976 and 2017, the average temperature has risen in Victoria Falls by no less than 1.4 degrees, although in certain months the increase has been even greater, for example up to 3.8 degrees in October. This causes greater evaporation, especially in the dry season. However, this loss of water is compensated by the torrential rains that fall during the wet season, which end up in the river through the runoff since the earth does not have time to absorb them. This allows that the annual average of the flow of the Zambeze river not only has not decreased, but has increased slightly between 1975 and 2015.

Although the average annual flow of the river does not notice the impact of the drought, it does affect life in the region intensely, since the rainy season begins each time later and is shorter. And those rains, when they fall, are very intense and irregular, which is very harmful for farmers and animals.

Mike Welch was born in the city of Livingstone, on the Zambian side of the falls, and is one of those responsible for the Fawlty Towers agency. "It is true that in the last three years it has rained little here, but since I can remember I have seen the falls dry on the Zambian side," he says, "it is normal." As of December the recovery of the flow begins. This year the minimum was reached between November 10 and 13, with 200,000 liters per second. From there, the flow of the river has begun its slow but unstoppable comeback thanks to the rains that already fall in its huge basin, three times the size of Spain, and that includes parts of Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Zambia itself.

After the uproar mounted by his October tweet, the president of Zambia decided to visit the site on December 16. The Daily Nation newspaper, not without some irony, published an image of Edgar Lungu peeking out of the water that fell down the rocks with the headline: "The resurrected Victoria Falls greet the president." According to this newspaper, the head of state showed his joy to see that they were "asleep" and not "dead", as some claimed, and promised to return in April to see them "alive" once again.

In response to the news published in November, dozens of citizens and tourists, as well as the travel agencies themselves, have decided to take action. A campaign with the label has been organized on Twitter #VictoriaFallsisnotdry (Victoria Falls are not dry) in which they publish photos and videos on a daily basis where water is seen flowing or the famous Devil's Pool, where visitors can bathe on the same edge of the waterfalls.

With one million tourists a year, the falls are an economic engine for the area and for both countries. José Luis Rigot, a Spanish businessman who lives in Victoria Falls, has investigated the phenomenon. “In the last three decades there have been years of much water, such as 1992, 2000 and 2011, and others in which the flow was very low, such as 1997, 2008 and 2017. The cycle repeats itself, although it is true that the years of drought are more frequent than in the past. ” But he is clear: “Let them come in April and they will see 12 million liters falling every second. And that they bring raincoats and good cameras, preferably waterproof. ”

Power cuts and death of elephants

Nokuthula Ncube has dozens of cauldrons, buckets and all kinds of containers stacked in your kitchen. You have just filled them with water during the two hours when the supply was restored. “Nobody knows when he will return,” says her husband Edward, “we have been like that for a year and a half, with cuts that last a day or two. It's a hell". Residents of the Chinotimba neighborhood in Victoria Falls suffer from light and water restrictions every day, as in Town Ship and Mkhosana. It is really a problem that affects all of Zimbabwe.

The drought in southern Africa, which according to the UN will cause 45 million people suffer serious food deficiencies In the coming months, it is impacting very intensely in this country. Half of the energy consumed by Zimbabwe comes from the hydroelectric power plant installed at the Kariba dam, which is affected by evaporation due to rising temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns. In rural areas, farmers no longer know when to sow and expect the rain with despair, which has been delayed again this year.

In Hwange National Park, about 200 elephants died in recent months as a result of the prolonged drought. Daniel Serralta, head of Ankawa Safari and living in Livingstone, says that rising temperatures are affecting animals throughout Africa: “In Uganda, gorillas are noticeable, in Tanzania and Kenya the great wildebeest migration has changed. Rainy seasons are delayed and droughts last longer. This is real. In Namibia there are places that have not rained for seven years, in Cape Town there is no water. ”