Early warnings for floods in South Africa: engineering for future climate change: If the forecast system works, African cities need significant on the ground support. Shutterstock Severe weather, rain and flooding are at the forefront of the minds of many South Africans, especially those in KwaZulu-Natal. Early last week (11-12 April 2022), the province’s coast …
COVID, climate change, Ukraine: three ways businesses can adapt their models to working in an age of crises: studiostoks/Shutterstock It’s been a tough few years for people who own or manage a business. Lockdowns shut down whole industrial sectors worldwide, turning profitable businesses into loss-making ones, while a lot of smaller businesses went under. Many …
Climate change report: what we must do to avert the looming crisis: The main driver of climate change is the greenhouse effect — when certain gases in the Earth's atmosphere trap the sun's heat and cause global warming. Richard Drury/Getty Images Climate change is a threat to all aspects of our lives. Every degree of …
Just Stop Oil: how mediation between climate activists and police could help with escalating protests: Florian Reichelt/Centre for Good Relations, Author provided Just Stop Oil activists have glued themselves to roads, climbed atop oil tankers and attached themselves to the goalposts of a Premier League football match. They demand that the government halt all new …
The South African ship that found Antarctica’s Endurance wreck is vital for climate science: The SA Agulhas amid the ice of Antarctica. © Raquel Flynn It was 1914 when the English explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set sail on his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition aboard a ship called Endurance. It was an ill-fated journey: the ship got …
Any plans to dim the Sun and cool the Earth must be led by those most affected by climate change: PX Media / shutterstock The developed countries of the “global north” are responsible for 92% of excess global emissions, according to a 2020 study in The Lancet Planetary Health. Yet it is the rest of …
What the invasion of Ukraine means for the IPCC’s latest climate change report: The UN’s new IPCC report on the mitigation of climate change says that immediate and deep emissions reductions are needed to limit global warming, along with removing carbon dioxide back out of the air in future. Meanwhile, the world’s governments are urging …
Climate change: greener lifestyles linked to greater happiness – in both rich and poor countries: GuoZhongHua/Shutterstock The idea that being green means sacrifice and going without was epitomised by Boris Johnson’s denigration of the “hair shirt-wearing, tree-hugging, mung bean-eating eco freak”. When the UK prime minister said that in 2020, the message was clear: a …
Five walks to save the world – how ‘psychogeography’ can help you confront the climate crisis: MaxManin/Shutterstock Perhaps, like me, you’ve seen wildfires raging and glaciers melting on the news and felt helpless. In the face of reports that the impacts of climate change are worse than expected, what on Earth can you do? While …
Concrete fuels climate change – but there’s a nature-friendly way to defend coasts from rising seas: Maksym Medvinskyi/Shutterstock The T?hoku earthquake of 2011 remains the strongest in recorded Japanese history. It created a tsunami that towered over 40 metres and dismantled coastal flood defences in north-eastern Japan with ease, taking the lives of around 16,000 …
Why Russian gas could disrupt Germany’s plan for a bolder climate agenda: A coal power plant in Niederaussem, Germany. Markue / shutterstock After 16 years under conservative Angela Merkel, Germany gained new leadership late last year. Following a “climate election” that saw the issue surpass COVID-19 as voters’ top concern, Europe’s largest economy is now …
In a rush to replace Russian gas, the EU has damaged its own climate change strategy: Yuratosno3/Shutterstock The European Union’s recent proposals to end imports of Russian gas before 2030 in the wake of the Ukraine invasion are blighted by the bloc’s support for unnecessary and expensive technologies. The race to replace Russian imports, which …
Individual climate action – the free and instant way to help Ukraine: In the face of a constant stream of bad news – the war in Ukraine, the climate crisis, spiralling fuel poverty and looming global food shortages – positive action is the best way to cope. And there is a set of actions that …
Clearing alien trees can help reduce climate change impact on Cape Town’s water supply: Alien pine trees, which use substantially more water than the native vegetation of the Cape Mountains, reduce river flows to dams that supply the city's water. Martin Kleynhans Droughts in water scarce regions are being aggravated by human-driven climate change. While …
Tyre Extinguishers: activists are deflating SUV tyres in the latest pop-up climate movement: JARUEK_CH/Shutterstock A new direct action group calling itself the Tyre Extinguishers recently sabotaged hundreds of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in various wealthy parts of London and other British cities. Under cover of darkness, activists unscrewed the valve caps on tyres, placed a …
The original climate crisis – how the little ice age devastated early modern Europe: Weary hunters return from an expedition with little to show for it in the 1565 Dutch painting, Hunters in the Snow. Pieter Bruegel the Elder Just as the UK was recovering from storms Eunice and Franklin, scientists of UN’s the Intergovernmental Panel …
Five key points in the IPCC report on climate change impacts and adaptation: Climate change has increased the risk of huge bushfires in Australia. josh.tagi / shutterstock The latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) looks at the impacts, adaptation and vulnerabilities associated with the climate crisis, and we are three …
Climate change: IPCC scientists on the narrowing window to adapt – podcast: Thongsuk7824/Shutterstock Scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) just published a stark new warning about the impacts climate change is already having on our planet. Some of these impacts are already irreversible. In this episode of The Conversation Weekly, we talk …