By Daniëlle Gerber
Early to mid-December saw rainstorms in the Western Cape – Stellenbosch included. This is unusual for this region, which has rainfall in the winter months and droughts in the summer – with the seasonal pattern following that of the southern hemisphere. However, this is not the only weather inconsistency within the country, and this raises the question: what is happening?
Within sustainability, there is talk of the ‘tipping point’; the stage where Nature’s activity is no longer linear or predictable due to its inability to regulate itself. This is a prominent feature of the Anthropocene, which we currently find ourselves in – where humans are the main drivers of change on the planet, as opposed to the previous Holocene state, where Nature drove changes in all ecosystems.
The Anthropocene sees its origins in the Industrial Revolution where, through the introduction of machinery, humans were able to expand their impact on the environment around them exponentially. While previously all processes were manually driven, and therefore limited, through the introduction of mechanisation, processes were comparatively almost unlimited (at least to the mindset of that age).
This ultimately hinted at a new way of life – where people become less reliant on Nature’s systems for survival, and where they started to use Nature as a commodity or something to be controlled and exploited. Additionally, with the use of machines came the increased use of fuel and pollution, thus giving birth to the Anthropocene and the ability for humans to have an effect on a system (that of Nature) much their superior in size.
The mentality of humans controlling Nature grew as the years went by, bringing us to our current 2023. Alongside that came the increase of technology, materials, and modern systems – from plastic to a linear economy and the introduction of mass production and global trade.
While it may be interpreted as progress or development, Nature has been talking for years, but now she seems to be screaming and crying over the lands of Stellenbosch, the larger South Africa, and the largest, across our globe. Could this be the start of the tipping point? We cannot know for sure, yet it cannot be denied that Nature has been unusual this summer.
The information is a synthesis of the documentary The Rise of Sustainability, with all information belonging to the producers – it is used here purely to aid in the comprehension of why current weather patterns are occurring as they currently are. It is recommended that you watch it should you wish to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the natural phenomenon we are experiencing currently on a regional, local, and national scale.
