The amazing system plants use to shape their roots and why it could help protect crops from climate change: lewan/Shutterstock Plants have colonised the vast majority of the Earth’s surface. So what is the key to their success? People often think of plants as simple, senseless life forms. They may live rooted in one place, …
COP27 in review: climate talks delivered big gains for Africa, but also several challenges: Participants during the closing ceremony of the UN Climate Summit COP27. Photo by Christophe Gateau/picture alliance. from www,gettyimages.com Africa has contributed negligibly to the changing climate, with less than 4% of global emissions. Yet it stands out disproportionately as the most …
Skiing in the Alps faces a bleak future thanks to climate change: Dmitrijs Bindemanis / shutterstock Skiing was introduced into the Alps comparatively late in the 1880s, with the first ski-lift being developed in the Swiss resort of Davos in the winter of 1934. The industrial revolution was two centuries old by that point, but …
Climate change can be beaten – why some scientists are hopeful: Getty Images Can our planet recover from climate change? Commissioning Editor, Kofoworola Belo-Osagie, asked scientists to share the reasons they believe there is hope. Jennifer Fitchett, Associate Professor of Physical Geography, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa …
Avatar: The Way of the Water review – tired climate clichés distract from Cameron’s vision: It’s been 13 long years since we last visited the planet of Pandora. During that time back here on Earth, we’ve seen huge tumultuousness: economic crises, the rise of populist politics, a deadly global pandemic and a growing climate emergency. …
How poetry can help address the climate crisis: I want to leap up at the three-nation parley In Whitehorse, Yukon, to warn them the radionuclides absorbed from the lichen they live on may kill them if they don’t drown in droves in crossings flooded out by hydroelectric stations, or slowly starve to death behind oil …
Climate crisis in Africa exposes real cause of hunger – colonial food systems that leave people more vulnerable: Zawadi Msafiri is seen in a withered maize crop field in Kilifi County, Kenya. The drought situation started in 2021. Photo by Dong Jianghui/Xinhua via Getty Images In the waning hours of the year’s biggest climate change …
Three graphic novels that creatively confront the climate crisis: An illustration from Ducks. Jonathan Cape, Author provided As the scale and severity of the environmental crisis escalates, our shelves and screens have been bombarded by a whirlwind of climate-themed genres, from climate fiction (cli-fi) to disaster movies. These books and films tend to stumble on …
Climate change is not what South Africans see as their main problem: a survey breaks it down: Climate change is slowly getting on the political agenda in Africa Gallo Images via Getty Images Climate change is a major threat to food production, and is displacing people and increasing the risks to health globally. Addressing climate …
Onshore wind rebellion reveals fractious climate politics within the Conservative party: Dave Head / shutterstock Campaigners have sought to overturn planning restrictions banning onshore windfarms ever since then UK prime minister David Cameron introduced them in 2015. This year, however, there have been signs of movement. Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson reportedly wanted to …
White butterflies are filling Johannesburg’s skies earlier than usual. Climate change is to blame: Brown-veined white butterflies migrate annually from the Kalahari region to Mozambique. Instinctively RDH/Shutterstock Each year around mid-summer, somewhere between December and mid-January, the skies of South Africa’s Gauteng province, including the city of Johannesburg, fill with small white butterflies. Some land …
Tackling climate change will require reforming the World Bank and IMF – here are two options: Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, a UN climate summit. PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo, Author provided A global transition to a low-carbon economy will require investments of at least US$ 4 trillion a year (£3.4 trillion) according to the …
COP27: how the fossil fuel lobby crowded out calls for climate justice: COP27 has just wrapped up. Despite much excitement over a new fund to address “loss and damage” caused by climate change, there is also anger about perceived backsliding on commitments to lower emissions and phase out fossil fuels. As an academic expert in …
COP27 key outcomes: progress on compensation for developing countries, but more needed on climate justice and equity: Climate activists held demonstrations in front of International Convention Center to protest the negative effects of climate change. Photo by Mohamed Abdel Hamid/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images There were high expectations for COP27, the 27th Conference of the …
Less burping, more meat and milk – how livestock farmers can help tackle the climate crisis: Sabrina Bracher/Getty Images Africa’s livestock farmers are at the forefront of climate change. Images of parched landscapes littered with the carcasses of starved cattle are becoming all too familiar as droughts increase in frequency and severity. But cattle farming …
African mountains are feeling the heat of climate change: Mount Kenya WanderingNomad / Getty IMages Mountains are special places. They have distinctive climates that are generally cooler and wetter than surrounding lowlands, and they host plants, animals and landscapes that are uniquely found in these environments. However, mountains are under threat because of climate change, …
Air pollution cools climate more than expected – this makes cutting carbon emissions more urgent: Rising pollution on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, India. Sudarshan Jha/Shutterstock Air pollutants kill around seven million people every year. Much of this pollution is tiny particles suspended in the air which, when inhaled, can cause people to develop heart and lung …
Climate change: why a new insurance scheme for vulnerable countries is a bad idea: Climate breakdown is well under way. So it is no wonder that a defining conflict of the COP27 climate talks in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt is over who pays for the damages that are already taking place, and how. Earlier this year the …