Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
heat waveslatest news & developments
Sub-Saharan Africa is on the front line of the climate crisis, facing rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, extreme weather events and mounting threats to food security and infrastructure.
CHILDREN HEALTH

Heat from a changing climate poses a significant risk to mothers and babies

It is crucial to pay attention to the effects of a warming world on mothers and babies because it stands to affect them the most

  • Dennis Webster
5 min read
Drought equaliser: Cape Town residents queued to refill water bottles at Newlands Spring. This may soon be Gauteng’s future. (Morgana Wingard/Getty Images)
ARCTIC

Climate crisis: ‘Day Zero’ drought risk for Gauteng

Long droughts may result in dams unable to adequately supply the industrial heartland

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
(John McCann/M&G)
ABAKHWETHA

Are our initiation rituals getting too hot to handle?

Global warming may force changes in some South African outdoor initiation ceremonies, as record heat poses risks for the summer season

  • Tunicia Phillips
7 min read
BOB SCHOLES

A grim future of extreme weather

Unpredictable and unbearable heat waves, floods and rain set to wreak havoc in Africa

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
Temperatures being recorded in some parts of South Africa are already close to the limits at which humans can survive
ADELLE THOMAS

Climate science’s blind spot for heat waves in southern Africa

The lack of detailed information on extreme heat impacts hinders disaster response and preparedness.

  • Bob Berwyn
7 min read