As it was announced that a task team had been set up to investigate the many fires that had ravaged the Cape over the summer, police remained tight-lipped about the process underway. For those affected, the long wait is just beginning. By Tuesday at least 80 people had been displaced as the latest fire spread to Ocean View; earlier the Cape Argus reported that the City of … [Read more...]
Temporary drought relief for Aliwal North
Extra water released from the Katse Dam at the end of last year is expected to reach drought-stricken Aliwal North, an Eastern Cape town on the Orange River. Water and sanitation director Margeret-Ann Diedricks gave the go-ahead for the release on December 31 in an effort to stabilise water levels in the Orange River. “The water was observed yesterday near Quthing in … [Read more...]
Water donations crisscrossing the country – all hands on deck
“Harrowing stories from children competing with cows for drinking water to farmers committing suicide, echoes over our barren land.” This from the national drought relief effort Water Shortage South Africa (WSSA). Whilst water is not falling where it’s needed or in sufficient quantities in 5 of our 9 provinces South Africans are rallying around and donating water across the … [Read more...]
Global warming slowing ocean circulation, with dire consequences
Last week, we learned about the possible destabilization of the Totten Glacier of East Antarctica, which could unleash over 11 feet of sea level rise in coming centuries. And now this week brings news of another potential mega-scale perturbation. According to a new study just out in Nature Climate Change by Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact … [Read more...]
Farmers seek aid as SA weathers worst drought in 24 years
South African farmers may seek international aid as the worst drought in decades threatens a regional food shortage, according to a farmers’ group. Farmers need as much as 20 billion rand ($1.27 billion), an estimate that will be revised after a more detailed industry assessment is completed at the end of this month, Omri van Zyl, executive director at Agri SA, said in a … [Read more...]
The next great famine
Seven hundred years ago this month, people across northern Europe saw a comet in the sky and feared the worst. They were already running out of food. It had rained too much in 1315—sometimes every day for weeks at a stretch. Wheat, barley, and oats rotted in the fields, and it was too wet to make hay. Then, after an unusually cold winter, the rains started again, and the 1316 … [Read more...]
The melting Arctic’s dramatic impact on global weather patterns
Arctic sea ice is melting at a record pace - and every summer looks grimmer. This past summer saw the ice pack at its fourth-lowest level on record, and the overall trend in recent decades suggests this will only continue. "Using satellites, scientists have found that the area of sea ice coverage each September has declined by more than 40 percent since the late 1970s, a … [Read more...]
South Africa maize prices scale new peaks as drought bites
South African maize prices maintained their record run into 2016, scaling historic highs on Monday amid growing drought concerns and rand weakness. The March contract for white maize added almost 2.6 percent to a new record of 4,781 rand ($307) a tonne while the same contract for the yellow variety climbed 1.8 percent to 3,677 rand a tonne. Prices for white maize, the … [Read more...]
Unfolding the gift of tomorrow: leaving a legacy
A daily diet of environmental news from across the planet might sound like quite a radical regime. Yet I firmly believe in the right to know how my species is changing the world into which I have delivered three children. It matters to me that they, and all vulnerable species, are comfortable and protected. Breaking down this home, our planet, is as good as a gang of people … [Read more...]
Paris climate agreement the world’s greatest diplomatic success
In the final meeting of the Paris talks on climate change on Saturday night, the debating chamber was full and the atmosphere tense. Ministers from 196 countries sat behind their country nameplates, aides flocking them, with observers packed into the overflowing hall. John Kerry, the US secretary of state, talked animatedly with his officials, while China’s foreign minister … [Read more...]
Paris talks a fraud, says climate change founder James Hansen
Mere mention of the Paris climate talks is enough to make James Hansen grumpy. The former Nasa scientist, considered the father of global awareness of climate change, is a soft-spoken, almost diffident Iowan. But when he talks about the gathering of nearly 200 nations, his demeanour changes. All words, no action “It’s a fraud really, a fake,” he says, rubbing his head. “It’s … [Read more...]
More immediate steps needed for effective climate action
World governments finalized a global agreement today in Paris that lays a foundation for long-term efforts to fight climate change. More effort is needed to secure a path that would limit warming to 1.5C. This new agreement should be continuously strengthened and governments will need to go back home and deliver actions at all levels to close the emissions gap, resource the … [Read more...]
Adaptation is key if Africa is to tackle climate change
The current and projected severe impacts of climate change in Africa make adaptation an urgent priority. While reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a vital task, the benefits will only emerge over time. Adaptation to the impacts of climate change is needed now as well as the next few decades. But adaptation faces many challenges. These are mainly institutional, technical, … [Read more...]
