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Many African countries have doubled the importation of agricultural food crops from outside the continent, even after the ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area. (Halden Krog/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
AGRICULTURE

Summer crop harvest forecasts down notably from last year

South Africa started the 2023-24 summer crop season with optimism, but the outlook is now lower because of the excessive heat and limited rainfall across major crop-growing regions

  • Wandile Sihlobo
3 min read
South Africa is the only African country in China’s top 30 agricultural suppliers, ranked 28 in 2023.
AGRICULTURE

Why I am optimistic about South Africa’s agricultural outlook in 2024

We are in for another good agricultural season, especially if January and February present favourable rainfall

  • Wandile Sihlobo
3 min read
Johannesburg Water says it has a two-phase plan to repair 44 leaking reservoirs in the city, about half of its total amount of reservoirs. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
AFRICA

Climate change and water — why early warning systems are key to communities’ survival

Water shortages, droughts and devastating floods will have dire consequences for African communities

  • Mandisa Makgakga
4 min read
Too hot to handle: Labourers take cover from the sun inside a concrete pipe at a construction site near Egypt’s capital, Cairo. Photo: Khaled Desouki/AFP
CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate crisis: Rising heat imperils outdoor work

Workers in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the western Pacific will be most affected if temperatures continue to rise.

  • Sheree Bega
4 min read
Six countries house the Earth’s African lung — Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Republic of the Congo.
AFRICA S THERMOSTAT

Congo Basin: Earth’s African ‘lung’ is it most resilient

The Congo Basin – the world’s second-biggest rainforest – resists extreme heat and drought and deserves the spotlight at COP26

  • Susana Edjang
4 min read
Durban Harbour (Photo by Hoberman Collection/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
ADAPTATION

Durban tackles heat island effect

By 2050, more than 570 cities will be vulnerable to sea-level rise, more than 500 cities will be vulnerable to water shortages, and more than 970 cities will be vulnerable to…

  • Tunicia Phillips
3 min read
While this was the first such event recorded for southern Africa, extreme heatwave events like this are already common in Australia. (David Mercado/Reuters)
BATS

South Africa passes ‘grim milestone’ after extreme heat kills off birds, bats

Mass November die-off in KZN is a sign of how global heating is affecting small animals, researchers warn

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
CARADEE WRIGHT

Outdoor workers wilt in rising heat

Climate change means hats are crucial personal protective equipment now – and work hours must become flexible

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
A man wipes perspiration from his head in Tokyo on July 24, 2018, as Japan suffers from a heatwave. – An “unprecedented” heatwave in Japan has killed at least 65 people in one week, government officials said on July 24, with the weather agency now classifying the record-breaking weather as a “natural disaster.” (Martin BUREAU / AFP)
ATTRIBUTION SCIENCE

The first undeniable climate change deaths

In Japan, in 2018, more than 1 000 people died during an unprecedented heat wave. In 2019, scientists proved it would have been impossible without global warming

  • Daniel Merino
21 min read