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The latest climate change projections indicate that both temperature and evapotranspiration (increases in evaporation are likely to increase the incidence of drought potential even if total rainfall of an area increases) are likely to increase into the 21st century. Warming will be more pronounced towards the interior, away from coastal areas. Future changes in rainfall are more complex, but in general, it is expected that rainfall will decrease in the already arid South Western region of the country and in the North West, rainfall will increase during the summer months. The predicted future increase in temperature may offset much of the predicted rainfall increase, due to the aforementioned increase in evaporation. Lastly, rainfall intensity is likely to increase; resulting in a likely increased frequency of high intensity rainfall events. Climate change is thus expected to alter the magnitude, timing, and distribution of storms that produce flood events as well as the frequency and intensity of drought events. Arid and semi-arid regions, which cover nearly half of South Africa, are particularly sensitive to changes in precipitation, and desertification problems could intensify in the future. In the K2C area an increase in mean annual temperature of between 0.8-3.05°C and an increase in annual rainfall of between 125-500mm is expected (www.csag.uct.ac.za/gisdata).
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