Loaded for Bear: Do climate change deniers spend all their time indoors?

Last month in this column I noted that August was the new September as spring had already sprung – at least in Joburg – and the weather subsequently has vindicated that call.

Read more: Loaded for Bear: August in Joburg is the new September as spring has already sprung

September is now the new October as the temperatures have already been hitting 30°C and above up here on the highveld. 

And while there is still chatter about “spring” – I was recently invited to a “Spring Drinks” shindig which will take place on 5 October – the reality is that the temperatures are already in the summer range.

Which means that summer has now sprouted in the City of Gold. 

Proclaiming 1 September as “Spring Day” is an archaic ritual that does not reflect the current reality of our burning city. 

I spend a lot of time outdoors and among other pursuits, I am a keen angler and fly-rod purist, so I tend to notice these trends. Fishing is closely linked to weather, which provides a handy excuse when the fish don’t bite.

Prime season for trout fishing in dams and still waters, for example, is now significantly shorter than it was when I first cast a fly in May 1998 in South Africa near Machadodorp. Trout simply prefer colder waters, a reflection of the geographies where the various species evolved.

Without going down the rabbit hole of the invasive species debates about trout in South African waters, I will just note that this is one of the ways in which trout play a role as an “indicator species.” 

I also run and while my distances have shortened with wear and age you cannot help but notice how much warmer it is at this time of the year when you are out pounding the Joburg pavement and parks. 

Age also provides a certain perspective and I turn 60 in less than three months. 

In recent years when I have visited my Canadian home province of Nova Scotia in the summertime I have always been struck by how much hotter it generally has been than the summers I recall from my youth. 

In August/September 2018, I spent far more time swimming at the beaches of Nova Scotia than I had ever previously because I had never experienced the water being so warm before.

Back here in Joburg and looking at the same two months, there is simply no question that August and September are significantly warmer than they were when I first arrived in South Africa more than 26 years ago. 

That is my “baseline” for Jozi weather, and people resident in the city for longer than myself may even recall cooler Augusts and Septembers. 

Of course, this is just “perception” on my part – though I would say it is informed by time spent outside.

But it is revealing to note that in 2009, the City of Johannesburg’s Climate Action Plan said that over the previous 45 years the “... average minimum night-time temperatures rose by up to 0.6°C per decade, (while) the greatest increase was recorded in the lowest winter minimum night-time temperature – which showed an increase of up to 1°C per decade.” 

And that was 15 years ago, when most of August was still generally regarded as winter in Johannesburg and September was spring.

An updated action plan in 2020 noted that the “... trends show that average midday temperatures have already increased nearly 1.5°C (in Johannesburg) since 1981.”

On the global stage, July 2024 was the warmest July on record and the 14th consecutive month of record-high temperatures worldwide.

Climate deniers and the great indoors