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Researchers studied blue waxbills — small songbirds that were most affected in South Africa’s first documented heat-related mortality event involving wild birds, which occurred in late 2020.  (Wikimedia Commons)

Heat and humidity is a lethal mix for SA’s small birds

Scientists have warned that humidity, not just temperature, could determine which species survive in an era of escalating heatwaves

Hands-on: The Green School South Africa uses the outdoors as an extension of the classroom to teach subjects in the curriculum such as science and maths. Photo: David Harrison

Africa’s first green school ‘cultivates a love of nature’

The Paarl campus of Green School South Africa uses solar power and climate-smart water management systems.

The art of science: Children from the Boesmanland High School in
Pofadder in the Northern Cape explore the Dung Beetle sculpture that
turns waste plastic into fuel.

‘Dung Beetle’ turns tech into art and plastic into fuel

Real dung beetles make waste useful and this steel sculpture does the same for plastic

Plastic and other waste pollution along the Hennops River. The sewage pollution of the river affects the water quality of the Rietvlei and Hartbeespoort dams. File photo: Delwyn Verasamy/M&G

There is shit in the Hennops River: ‘No way you can call this water’

E.Coli counts in tributaries feeding the Hennops River run into tens of millions, far above the permitted limit

Match of the day: Sport vs ecology

We need a profound rethinking of the meaning of sustainability in sport — the global commercial model is neither environmentally nor socially sound

The United Nations Decade on Biodiversity has ended, paving way for the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030.
(Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Attacks on Brazil’s ecological paradises threaten biodiversity

Brazil’s rich biodiversity is under attack from multiple fronts

Up the pole: Women are shamed into silence when they dare to talk openly about their need for sexual pleasure.
Video

New tech is revolutionising ecology, conservation

From tiny sensors that can be fitted to animals, to swarms of remotely-piloted drones, researchers have a host of new ways to study the natural world

From the exhibition Divine Violence.

Embrace the ecological university

It has an ethical concern to help people coexist and to understand each other and society

Europe’s lazy storks hooked on takeaways

As a result of human influences and global environmental change, the migratory bird has taken to a more sedentary lifestyle.

The Greater Mekong is one of the world’s richest and most biodiverse regions — but it is under threat.

Discovery of new species born to die

Amazing previously undocumented creatures found in the Greater Mekong area are under threat because of uncontrolled human expansion.