Record temperatures in Zimbabwe amidst drought

This was behind a paywall in an Italian newspaper

Zimbabwe, temperatures reach 51 ° C: the Victoria Falls are dry

• The UNESCO heritage dried up by the most severe wave of drought in the last forty years.
• The economic and environmental damage is enormous. 
• Seven million people risk starving to death

SOME parts of the country experienced record-breaking high temperatures yesterday as the country came under the spell of a heat wave that is also expected to affect the country today, the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) has said.

MSD forecaster Mr James Ngoma yesterday said very hot temperatures were recorded in Nyanga, where they topped 38 degrees Celsius, up from the previous record of 32 degrees Celsius.

“Chisengu and Mutare recorded 39 degrees Celsius and 40 degrees Celsius, up from 37degrees Celsius and 39 degrees Celsius, respectively,” he said.

Kariba recorded the highest temperature of 42 degrees Celsius, Victoria Falls 40, Great Zimbabwe 29, Vumba 35, Harare 35, Bulawayo 35, Gweru 35, Mutare 40, Lupane, 42, Gwanda 41 and Marondera 39 degrees Celsius

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https://www.chronicle.co.zw/parts-of-zim-experience-record-high-temperatures/

The flow at the Africa’s biggest waterfall is at its lowest since 1995, highlighting the threat posed by a drought to tourism and electricity generation in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Flow has slumped to 109 cubic meters-per-second (3,850 cubic feet) at Victoria Falls, a 1.7-kilometer (1.1 mile) curtain of falling water at the peak of a normal wet season, according to the Zambezi River Authority. The falls on the Zambezi river straddle the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia and the flow of the watercourse fills the Kariba Dam, the site of the two countries’ largest power plants.

The drought threatens to deter tourists from visiting the site, could curtail a lucrative white-water rafting industry in the gorge below the cataract and may see the power plants at Kariba shut down, worsening power cuts in both countries. Elephants at nearby game parks are dying of hunger, further damaging the tourism industry.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-31/biggest-african-waterfall-at-24-year-low-imperils-tourism-power

A crippling drought in Zimbabwe

A crippling drought which 

has brought millions of 

people in Zimbabwe facing 

the risk of starvation has 

killed 55 elephants in the last 

8 weeks

The Big Wobble,

22 October, 2019

A crippling drought which is said to have brought millions of people in Zimbabwe facing the risk of starvation has reduced crop levels as the country slides into an ongoing economic crisis which is said to be much worse than during the Mugabe period which saw the cost of an egg rise to 100 billion Zimbabwe Dollars.

The drought is affecting wildlife too, at least 55 elephants have starved to death in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park over the past two months amid a severe drought. "The situation is dire," Zimparks spokesman Tinashe Farawo said. "The elephants are dying from starvation and this is a big problem." The drought has massively reduced crop levels in Zimbabwe.

According to a report by the BBC, a third of the population is reportedly in need of food aid in the midst of. In August, a World Food Programme report said two million people were at risk of starvation in the country.

Some of the elephants were reportedly found within 50 metres (yards) of water pans - suggesting they had travelled far and died just before reaching them. The elephants have caused "massive destruction" of vegetation in Hwange, Mr Farawo said. The park can handle about 15,000 elephants but currently has more than 50,000. Zimparks - which does not get government funding - has been trying to drill wells but lacks the money to continue, Mr Farawo added. Their bodies have been spotted at empty watering holes - at least 55 dead elephants in the past two months alone, the victims of a devastating drought that is now threatening the lives of humans and wildlife alike.

In Zimbabwe's giant Hwange National Park the problem is not just a lack of rain, but far too many elephants. Overcrowding has prompted the animals to stray outside the park to hunt for food. In the process, officials say, they have already killed 22 local villagers this year. And behind all this lurks the issue of money. Zimbabwe's economic crisis means no funds to manage wildlife properly.