A new report by the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, Earth Law Center, and International Rivers finds that a movement to grant legal rights to rivers and nature is rapidly gaining momentum globally. The report, Rights of Rivers, examines how the ancient notion that nature possesses basic rights is being adopted in laws from New Zealand to Colombia. Just … [Read more...]
Climate change review: humbling lessons from Australia
Australia, like South Africa in the last week and so many other regions across the globe before, has instituted strict lockdown measures to combat the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Though this is not the first large scale crisis the country has been faced with since the start of the year, as just a few short months ago Australia was still making international headlines … [Read more...]
How can we take action to fight climate change?
The words ‘climate change’ are known by 41% of South Africans, according to a recent August 2019 Afro barometer Survey. However, there is quite a stark difference between having a term in our lexicon, and knowing what it means. There seems to be a stream of never-ending news on events like the April 2019 KwaZulu-Natal floods, and severe drought leaving several provinces … [Read more...]
Plastic waste clean-ups head for KwaZulu-Natal after flood
Sincere condolences go out to the affected families and communities that have fallen victim to the devastating human tragedy caused by this week’s heavy rains and flooding in Kwa-Zulu Natal. A huge amount of plastic pollution has also ended up in KZN’s rivers and beaches. This event, more than any in recent times, reinforces the need for all of us – the industry, the … [Read more...]
Nightmarish scenes in Houston: a global warning
Let there be no doubt: the horrific damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey was an almost entirely man-made catastrophe, one fingerprinted by all-too-human neglect, corruption and denial. If we needed a reminder of the power of water to destroy an American city, Hurricane Harvey provided it. In Houston, a fast-growing metropolis of more than 2 million people, it wasn't the wind that … [Read more...]
Houston submerged by ‘unprecedented’ flooding after Hurricane Harvey
Tropical Storm Harvey sent devastating floods pouring into the nation's fourth-largest city on Sunday as rising water chased thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground and overwhelmed rescuers who could not keep up with the constant calls for help. The incessant rain covered much of Houston in turbid, gray-green water and turned streets into rivers navigable only by … [Read more...]
Malawi faces ‘unprecedented’ flood disaster
The waters may be receding and the rainfall subsiding but Malawi is only now coming to terms with the "unprecedented" floods that hit the southern half of the country last week. At least 176 people lost their lives and another 200,000 have been displaced when heavy rains submerged homes, schools, and in places, washing away an entire village. The Malawi Defence Force has … [Read more...]
Thousands evacuated in Bosnia after ‘worst ever’ floods
More than 20 people have been confirmed dead and the exact death toll is still unknown after Bosnia and Serbia was hit by the heaviest rain and worst ever flood, breaking records in the past 120 years. States of emergency have been raised in the affected areas of Bosnia and Serbia after rivers burst their banks and left towns and villages submerged in seven to 10 feet (two … [Read more...]
Water gives and takes life
It came as a surprise to me that only 0.25% of the water on our planet is available to us. I do know that it is not evenly distributed and that water is the source of all of life. I've also heard a rumour about the shortage of this resource. It is therefore no surprise that an entire conference was recently dedicated to spreading awareness about the serious trouble our water … [Read more...]
Harsh realities of global warming in Namibia
I'm woken by the sound of rushing water. I get up and hang out of the window. A river rushing by? Indeed. I have lived on dry river banks for many years, so it's a sound I know well. But now we're in a suburb of Windhoek. It's cool and damp and you might think you were in a Cape Town winter, as it never seems to stop raining. Yet this is March and Windhoek is the capital of … [Read more...]
