This week the UN released a scary special report about global warming that shows how crossing the ever-nearer threshold of 1.5℃ warming will affect the planet. It also sets out how difficult it will be to avoid overshooting this target.
Southern Africa has its own particular set of problems when it comes to managing the impact of a hotter planet. Firstly, climate change “hotspots” – hot, dry and water-stressed countries like Botswana and Namibia – are likely to be warmer as well as drier than the global average. This makes action all the more urgent, argues Mark New, while Robert Scholes sets out why staying below 1.5°C will require
urgent, deep and radical changes in almost every aspect of our lives.
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The Okavango Delta in Botswana.
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Mark New, University of Cape Town
For hot, dry and water-stressed countries like Botswana and Namibia, high temperatures and droughts will be more severe than the global average.
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Dairy and livestock farming will not be viable over much of the subcontinent at the current rate of warming.
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Robert Scholes, University of the Witwatersrand
Staying below 1.5°C will require urgent, deep and radical changes in almost every aspect of our lives.
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Business + Economy
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Seth Asare Okyere, Osaka University; Jerry Chati Tasantab; Matthew Abunyewah, University of Newcastle
Research in Ghana shows that improving slum housing could be one of the alternatives to the capital's housing crisis.
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Jannie Rossouw, University of the Witwatersrand
South Africa's new finance minister comes with considerable skills and political finesse needed to steer the country out of its economic quagmire.
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Steven Friedman, University of Johannesburg
Ramaphosa's stimulus package is more interesting for what it says about the politics of economic decision making than for its likely impact on the economy.
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Vuyo Mjimba, Human Sciences Research Council
African economies could benefit more from backward linkages to the mining industry than from beneficiation.
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Politics + Society
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Cheryl Hendricks, Human Sciences Research Council; Gabriel Ngah Kiven, University of Johannesburg
President Paul Biya's credibility and legitimacy are increasingly being tarnished, amid growing support for opposition candidates.
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David Everatt, University of the Witwatersrand
Nhlanhla Nene was highly regarded for refusing to fund former President Zuma's ludicrous rent-seeking projects.
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Health + Medicine
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Justin Komguep Nono, University of Cape Town; Hlumani Ndlovu, University of Cape Town
Deworming needs to be accompanied by health awareness campaigns in order to reduce diseases from parasitic worms.
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Henry Zakumumpa, Makerere University
In Uganda stand-alone clinics for HIV treatment persist because of stigma and overcrowding.
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