Around 50% of the records requested from the Department of Environmental Affairs during 2015 were supplied to the Centre for Environmental Rights. The rest did not exist or were not under control of the Department. The Department of Mineral Resources released only 12.5% of requested records. The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) has released its fifth report on access to … [Read more...]
South Africa on the brink of importing food: Agriculture minister
Farmers across South Africa are losing livestock due to the current drought which may force government to import maize and wheat into the country, Agriculture Minister Senzeni Zokwana said on Friday. “Stats SA notes that the sector contracted by 17 percent quarter on quarter largely due to drought conditions in 2015. The weather forecast (is) that significant rainfall may … [Read more...]
South Coast community rises to water crisis challenge
The community of Port Shepstone rallied together last week to prove that charity really does begin at home. Following the water crisis in the Ugu District, where the taps ran salty, the community, along with the local business forum, joined forces to solve the problem last Monday. Some prominent businessmen in the area went as far as to open their private boreholes to the … [Read more...]
Extreme temperatures causing drop in human fertility
If you're not feeling like sex when it's too darn hot, you're not alone. Latest research into human fertility and temperature extremes reveals that birthrates suffer a fall nine months after extreme temperatures events. Although there is a partial recovery in subsequent months, this does not make up for the lost fertility. The research is based upon data of the effects of … [Read more...]
Near week-long heatwave to hit drought-ravaged SA
An almost week-long heatwave is expected over parts of the country, with some maximum temperatures expected to hit 40 degrees Celsius on Monday. The heatwave comes as large parts of the country are experiencing devastating drought conditions. The SA Weather Service said in its daily forecast that a heatwave with "persistently high temperatures" is expected over Gauteng, … [Read more...]
Drought drives SA farmers to seek govt aid
Corn producers desperate for rain and already in record debt will implore the government to provide guarantees for new bank loans as the worst drought in 23 years leaves farmers short of collateral before the new planting season. While grain producers require debt security, livestock farmers may need cash to pay for feed after dry weather since the end of 2014 left grazing … [Read more...]
SA working hard behind the scenes to fight climate change
South Africa will be able to take some of the credit if the world takes effective steps to limit climate change at the 2015 United Nations Climate Conference (COP21) in Paris from 30 November to 11 December. Of course this has taken much too long. So said Professor Bob Scholes, Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, during a … [Read more...]
SA sets temp record while tropical cyclone brews in Arabian Sea
Earth's hottest temperature ever recorded in the month of October occurred on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 in South Africa, when Vredendal hit a remarkable 48.4°C (119.1°F). According to weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera, this is also the highest temperature ever observed at Vredendal and the third highest temperature in South African history. The new global … [Read more...]
KZN to declare drought emergency
As rivers and boreholes dry up and below average rainfall is expected, the KwaZulu-Natal executive council has announced it intends declaring eight areas to be in a “state of disaster”. This follows a council meeting about the drought situation in the province today. In a statement the province said that another high-level meeting would be held on Tuesday with various MECs … [Read more...]
Orangutans are dying as Indonesia burns
Indonesia is on fire. Right now, tens of thousands of small forest fires are burning across the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, the only habitats for orangutans and other rare species. Many of the fires appear to have been intentionally set by palm oil companies, which employ slash-and-burn agriculture to clear land of native trees to plant their cash crop, which is used as an … [Read more...]
First national drought in new SA have farmers giving up
Ficksburg is ground zero for drought in the Free State. The trickle of farmers selling up and moving to the coast is growing into a stream. Ficksburg is a border town with an agricultural habit. Its two main streets are packed with shops selling farming equipment and cheap goods. The latter inevitably head across the bridge leading out of town into Lesotho. The former … [Read more...]
Climate change spurs raging wildfires from Indonesia to Brazil
There is “no way human intervention can put out the fires,” Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Malaysia’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, to the Australian Broadcasting Company on the issue of Indonesian wildfires in a recent Weather Channel Report. Outbreaks of Equatorial wildfires. It’s something that can happen during strong El Ninos. These periods of warming in the … [Read more...]
Big trees first to die in severe droughts
National forests whose names come from their large, majestic trees—such as Redwood National Park and Sequoia National Park in California—may need to rethink their brands as droughts increase in frequency and severity in many regions around the world due to climate change. New research published this week in the journal Nature Plants finds it’s the large trees that suffer most … [Read more...]
