The future we don't want is already happening with more intense droughts, floods, heat waves, blackouts, food shortages and sea levels gradually rising. It may sound like a post-apocalyptic movie, but delegates to the Adaptation Futures 2018 conference in Cape Town heard that these climate change effects were already happening around the world, and warned that, if we as a … [Read more...]
Flash floods, lightning and gales pummel the Western Cape
Emergency services were on standby as an intense cold front‚ accompanied by heavy rain and gale force winds‚ made landfall in Cape Town early on Thursday. Lightning flickered above the city as the rain poured down before sunrise‚ bringing with it potential flash floods in the city‚ Cape Winelands‚ Overberg and West Coast‚ which will continue into Friday. The South African … [Read more...]
New coal plants not the way forward for drought-prone SA
Support for new coal-fired power plants like the proposed Thabametsi coal-fired power plant in Lephalale, Limpopo is fast drying up in a region where the Water and Sanitation Department rated water security as “high risk” because supply only just meets demand at present. Coal-fired power stations are responsible for half of South Africa’s carbon emissions, and in addition to … [Read more...]
Hawaii’s erupting volcano shows no sign of slowing down
Scalding, black lava crept out of the largest fissure ripped open by Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano, consuming the lush, green landscape around it and lobbing balls of magma known as "spatter bombs" 500 feet into the air, according to footage and reports from the US Geological Survey. Fissure No. 17 split the Earth near Leilani Estates, near the eastern point of Hawaii's Big … [Read more...]
Gulf Stream current at ‘record low’ with potentially devastating consequences for weather
Catastrophic changes in global weather patterns could be on the horizon as scientists confirm the warming Atlantic current has reached a “new record low”. The Gulf Stream current, which has not been running at peak strength for centuries, is now at its weakest point in the past 1,600 years. Climate change resulting from rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is … [Read more...]
Climate change reversal window closing as Bonn talks stall
As the second week of talks at the Bonn Climate Change Conference gets underway, some 200 country delegates remain far from agreeing on a rulebook to implement the Paris Agreement, the historic accord signed in 2015 to reduce emissions and keep the worst effects of climate change at bay. The rulebook is central to the discussions because it outlines how the targets agreed … [Read more...]
Rain floods Cape Town roads as cold front hits
Overnight rain in parched Cape Town has resulted in flash flooding and the closure of some roads in the city. "I don't have much information for you. I only [know] about flooding in Koeberg Road," provincial traffic chief Kenny Africa told News24. He said that the Huguenot Tunnel was closed for traffic due to a power failure. The City of Cape Town's Disaster Risk … [Read more...]
Fallen trees, traffic and flooding – rain wreaks havoc in Johannesburg
Three lanes on the M1 North were closed, after a tree fell on the highway, and two homes were flooded in Klipspruit as overnight flooding wreaked havoc in Johannesburg on Friday. Johannesburg Metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar confirmed the incidents and emergency services personnel cut up the tree. He described traffic as "very bad" and confirmed that a pedestrian … [Read more...]
Can fossil fuel companies be sued for climate disruption?
Last summer, Ryan Coonerty, a county supervisor in Santa Cruz, got word that the neighboring county of San Mateo was about to take a bold step in adapting to climate change. Rising seas are already eroding San Mateo’s coast, and the county will need to spend billions of dollars on new sea walls and other infrastructure to protect itself in the years to come. So in July, San … [Read more...]
How Australia’s extreme heat might be here to stay
A section of highway connecting Sydney and Melbourne started to melt. Bats fell dead from the trees, struck down by the heat. On the northern Great Barrier Reef, 99% of baby green sea turtles, a species whose sex is determined by temperature, were found to be female. In outer suburban Sydney, the heat hit 47.3C (117F) before a cool change knocked it down - to the relative … [Read more...]
Mathematics predicts a sixth mass extinction
In the past 540 million years, the Earth has endured five mass extinction events, each involving processes that upended the normal cycling of carbon through the atmosphere and oceans. These globally fatal perturbations in carbon each unfolded over thousands to millions of years, and are coincident with the widespread extermination of marine species around the world. The … [Read more...]
Storm Eleanor batters Europe, bringing chaos and destruction
Winter storm Eleanor swept across Europe on Wednesday, bringing death, damage and disruption, snarling transport networks and cutting power to tens of thousands of people. Two people died on Spain's northern Basque coast, the couple swept away by a huge wave, officials said, and another person had to be rescued after attempting to save them. In France, a 21-year-old skier … [Read more...]
Underwater ruins of lost Roman city discovered in Tunisia
A vast 1,700 year old Roman settlement has been discovered off the coast of Tunisia after several years of archaeological exploration in search of the ancient city of Neapolis. Neapolis is believed to have been submerged after a tsunami in the 4th century AD destroyed most of it, as recorded by Roman soldier and historian Ammien Marcellin. The natural disaster also badly … [Read more...]
