Why is it so hot in 2016?

As the mercury of thermometers soar near the 40°C mark, many South Africans wonder why is it so hot this year, especially in November?

The weather patterns that the country is currently experiencing is some of the strangest ever. Gauteng have been plagued by the one heatwave, followed by another, agricultural provinces are currently experiencing the worse drought in years and the Western Cape is also experiencing strange heat and thunderstorms. Here is the answer to the question why we are experiencing strange weather patterns.

Firstly, climate dynamics and global warming has a huge impact on the national drought. The Earth’s natural climate dynamics plays a role here and may cause oscillations and complex configurations of global and regional climate systems working together to form our weather and climate.

The El Nino effect also plays a role. This effect is caused when ocean temperatures are above normal and low rainfall occurred in a specific region. This effect usually appears every two to seven years and lasts from December to February, however scientists expect this to carry on until March 2016.

Read more here.