The farmers are looking out into the distance again. The temperatures are high. The land is parched, the sparse grass dry as tinder. To light a match here, or to throw a cigarette out of a moving car, would lead to disaster. The farmers are looking out into the distance again. The temperatures are high. The land is parched, the sparse grass dry as tinder. To light a match here, or to throw a cigarette out of a moving car, would lead to disaster.In the cities, life is normal. We take long showers. We have been watering our gardens. We hose down our cars. But here, too, there is no rain. Sometimes, in Joburg, I miss those gorgeous, sudden, distinctive afternoon thundershowers. We have had only one or two this year in my neighbourhood.They have not been that lucky out in the rural areas, in the vast tracts of farmland that make up Limpopo, the Free State or North West. There, there is no water. Here, the locals look out into the distance often. They are hoping for rain clouds.They are praying for rain.A few weeks ago, in the Free State, I saw a field of mielies so dry, so incredibly lacking in moisture, that it seemed as if they had been burnt and then put back in the field.The farmer's whole crop is gone. He will lose millions of rands this year.He will not be the only one. There are thousands of people who depend on the agricultural sector. This year, many seasonal workers will not be hired to harvest.Permanent workers will lose their job. This is the reality that many who live by working the land face.Last week a radio report said the weather service is warning that we might get proper, sustained rainfall only next year. This weekend, as I looked at the devastation wrought by the drought, I prayed that the weather service is wrong.A week ago, in Limpopo, I saw a game farm that had started to feed its rhino lucerne and pulses. It used to be one of the lushest, most verdant, places I know. Now it is nearly a dust bowl, as dry as ash.So they feed the rhino lucerne because there is no grass. The dung beetles, which live off the rhino dung, are taking strain. The rhino dung is no longer as good for making dung balls as it used to be. The lucerne texture is different and doesn't bind the dung like natural grass. So the dung beetles cannot build for their egg-laying and prepare for winter.A whole ecosystem is being disrupted.Large parts of our land are now in the grip of a devastating drought. Nature is changing, animal lives are changing. We are changing too.In the Madikwe Game Reserve this weekend we drove to a natural dam. A herd of elephants was standing around it, feeding off the sparse, dry vegetation.The dam was drier than a bone. The elephant herds are desperate for water. Lodges in the reserve now pump precious water into man-made dams. Six years ago I was in this part of Madikwe. It was green.In one part of the park, three weeks ago, cloud built up. They prayed for rain. None came. Instead, lightning struck from the cloud cover, setting off a fire that destroyed 1000ha of vegetation. That is precious food, at a very precarious time, up in flames.If it does not rain by December, says the game ranger, there will be serious loss of animal life. He does not need to illustrate the point. You can see the hip bones on the emaciated buck.The South African news cycle is so fast that we sometimes fail to stop and think about the things that are important.Just last week we went from #FeesMustFall to the ANC Women's League marching for "the president's dignity".The week before there were even more items on the news agenda.This week will be the same. In the maelstrom of all these events we sometimes forget what matters and what does not.If there is anything that parenthood has taught me, it is that this earth does not belong to us. It belongs to my children and my children's children. My role on earth is not to cause damage, for I am a mere custodian of this beautiful, bountiful gift.The least I can do is leave their world better than it was in 1990 or today. The drought must remind us of the damage we have done to this earth, damage that has caused global warming. It is time we took responsibility. It is time for us to act, through our governments, through bodies such as the UN and others. We need to put the brakes on the relentless forward march of global warming. We need to repair the earth. We need to stop the pollution.This year we must hope for rain, and soon. For the future, though, we must put in place laws and practices that preserve our planet for our children and their children. This is urgent...