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Devastating as the wildfire on the slopes of South Africa’s Table Mountain was this past week, there are lessons that can be learnt about managing fire ignitions and the speed with which the flames spread. Brian van Wilgen and Nicola van Wilgen-Bredenkamp explore what these are as they unpack the factors that drive wildfires. For their part, Alanna Rebelo and Karen Joan Esler explain how the introduction and spread of alien trees on Table Mountain have made the environment even more inflammable. They give pointers on how this can be managed.
Shannon Morreira homes in on the fire damage at the University of Cape Town’s Jagger Library and the loss of the rich, historical archives that were housed there. She explains what the implications of losing recorded histories are for a country like South Africa with a fraught and contested past. And finally Andreas Hemp shares his insights on how fires have shaped the natural environment of Africa’s tallest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro.
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Nontobeko Mtshali
Education Editor
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Wildfires are the inevitable consequence of three factors coming together at the same time: an ignition, the weather and fuel.
Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images
Brian Van Wilgen, Stellenbosch University; Nicola van Wilgen-Bredenkamp, Stellenbosch University
The fynbos vegetation that historically clothed the slopes of Table Mountain is highly inflammable. This has been worsened by the spread of alien trees that burn more intensely than the fynbos.
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A wildfire spread across the slopes of Table Mountain to the University of Cape Town.
Photo by Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images
Alanna Rebelo, Stellenbosch University; Karen Joan Esler, Stellenbosch University
Fire hazards are influenced by three factors: weather, an ignition source and fuel loads. The first two are unpredictable. But fuel loads can be managed.
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Shannon Morreira, University of Cape Town
Losing archives has significant implications in a country like South Africa with a fraught and contested history because voices from the past, which may carry alternative histories, are lost.
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Andreas Hemp, Bayreuth University
There have been several severe fires on Kilimanjaro over the last few decades that have dramatically changed land cover.
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Arts, Culture + Society
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Alessia Carnevale, Sapienza University of Rome
The 1970s and 1980s saw a new genre of popular protest - its spirit would be felt even in 2011 when protests toppled a dictator.
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Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu, University of Texas at Tyler
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Business + Economy
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PK Senyo, University of Southampton
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Jody Delichte, University of Cape Town
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Health + Medicine
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Safura Abdool Karim, University of the Witwatersrand; Agnes Erzse, University of the Witwatersrand; Karen Hofman, University of the Witwatersrand; Susan Goldstein, University of the Witwatersrand
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Agnes Binagwaho, University of Global Health Equity
Due to early logistical planning, Rwanda had the capacity to store 5 million doses before the vaccines arrived.
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Politics
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Lanre Ikuteyijo, Obafemi Awolowo University
Apart from tackling terrorism, banditry and kidnappings, Nigeria's new Inspector General of Police must embrace community policing.
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Mohammed Ibrahim Shire, University of Portsmouth
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Elisabeth King, New York University; Cyrus D Samii, New York University
On average, countries that adopt ethnic recognition experience less violence, more economic vitality, and more democratic politics.
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Helga Dickow, University of Freiburg
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Featured events
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Crn Lynnwood and Roperstreet, , Pretoria, Gauteng, 0083, South Africa — University of Pretoria
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Online, Hatfield, Pretoria, Gauteng, 0083, South Africa — University of Pretoria
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Robert Sobukwe Road, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town, Western Cape, 7535, South Africa — University of the Western Cape
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MS Teams, Western Cape, 7600, South Africa — Stellenbosch University
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