The effects of severe weather are felt every year by many South Africans. To obtain critical weather information, the SAWDOS use voluntary weather observers. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe and informed by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the SAWDOS for publication on the Blog. The SAWDOS is a non-profit organization that renders a FREE COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE.
Pages
- Home
- SAWDOS1 Twitter South Africa Tweets
- SAWDOS2 Twitter World Wide Tweets
- TrafficSA Twitter Updates
- RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service
- USGS Earthquake Monitor
- SA Private WX Stations
- Real-Time APRS WX Station Data
- Disclaimer/Indemnity: SAWDOS
- Articles and Photos: SAWDOS
- About: SAWDOS
- South African Disasters
- Mossel Bay WX Stations
- SA Sea Level Synoptic Chart
- SA Weather Webcams
- YO Weather Prediction
- Mossel Bay Mad Scientist Projects
- Weather Forecast for South Africa
Saturday, 9 June 2012
SA shores swimming with sewage - official
Cape Town - South Africa's seas are swimming with sewage, Deputy Environmental Affairs Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi revealed on Friday.
"South Africans are known to discharge over 300 million litres of sewage every day into the marine environment, much of which is untreated or partially treated, and thus posing a serious threat to marine habitats, species and the public."
She was speaking at an event in East London to mark World Oceans Day.
The figure of 300 million litres was later confirmed by the minister's spokesperosn, Peter Mbelengwa.
Mabudafhasi said in a speech prepared for delivery that the volume of this sewage pollution was "increasing significantly", and the country had to find a better way of managing the problem.
"Over the past few decades, scientists around the world have observed the appearance of so-called ‘dead zones’ in the ocean, where the levels of oxygen are so low that marine life cannot be supported."
Such dead zones were caused by, among other things, the excessive nutrients in sewage.
"We do not want these areas to appear in [the oceans of] South Africa and therefore we must find better ways of managing our waste."
Mabudafhasi said she had attended a United Nations inter-governmental conference earlier this year, where discussions were held on the action needed to tackle the causes of poor coastal water quality.
"At that particular meeting, which was attended by 65 countries, it was unanimously agreed that we should step up our efforts to tackle the damaging effects of sewage, marine litter and nutrients on our oceans."
South Africa had 3 000km of coastline, with hundreds of beaches set aside for the public’s enjoyment and recreation.
"Our beaches are much sought-after by both South Africans and international visitors and are a major economic driver in the country’s ever-growing tourism industry.
"As a country therefore, we [have] much to lose if we do not ensure that our beach waters are protected from pollution, because ultimately that pollution will affect us and our economy," she said.
- SAPA/News24
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment