African dust has been getting a lot of media attention in Europe and the United States, as it contributes to everything from the yellow-tinged skies of Portugal during the recent Iberian Peninsula heat wave to the suppression of storm formation in this year’s slow Atlantic Ocean hurricane season. It is…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Scientists who study the baobab tree – which can live for 2,000 years or more – say some of Africa’s oldest specimens are dying off in a relatively short period of time, and climate change may be the reason. Their research work, published in Nature Plants this week, calls attention…
Johannesburg comes in at Number 13. Benha in Egypt is No. 17, Cape Town is at No. 89, while Lagos is No. 386. What they all have in common with 13,000 cities around the globe is that their ranks are part of a new study that looks at the carbon…
Biodiversity continues to decline in every region of the world, and that’s especially a concern for Africa, according to newly released regional reports from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). “Africa is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and this is going to have…
“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” “Every adversity carries with it the seed of equal or greater benefit.” Across Africa and the globe, these and countless similar proverbs are used to mean the same thing: Hidden in adversity is opportunity. First, Africa’s challenge in adversity When we talk of…
Dr. Richard Munang is currently the United Nations Environment Africa Regional Climate Change Programme Coordinator.
As Cape Town and its water-weary residents prepare for Day Zero – currently, the April 12 date when the taps run dry – attention has turned to the use of groundwater to help avert the looming water crisis. The World Wildlife Fund in South Africa wants Capetonians to understand how…
Tucked into a new report on the threat that returning Islamic State jihadists pose to their home countries – or those to which they flee instead – is an interesting insight on how many Africans may see climate change as a more existential threat than the extremists. The report released…
Scientists at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) say their new study results demonstrate a clear link between climate change and impacts on endangered African wild dogs who have fewer surviving pups in hotter temperatures. “When most people think about wildlife in a changing climate, they think of polar bears…
The water crisis and unrelenting drought in Cape Town, South Africa, have become so dire that city officials on Tuesday recommended the highest level of water restrictions for its nearly 4 million people. “This is not a drill,” the city said, in a public message clearly marked as a drought…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Scientists who study the Agulhas Current – one of the fastest ocean flows in the world off the coast of South Africa – say they have accidentally discovered a giant swirling whirlpool by using remotely controlled underwater vehicles. Their findings may offer insight into marine life ecosystems, climate change and…
On this eve of November 4, the day the Paris Climate Change Agreement enters into force, the world is focused on what everyone from global finance leaders to ordinary citizens can do to reduce carbon emissions and protect the planet from catastrophic warming. “As the world heads into COP22 in…
Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a joint oil and gas exploration of Lake Tanganyika, but the deal is likely to receive a lukewarm reception from environmental activists already worried about the lake’s health. Tanzania President John Magufuli and DRC leader…
On a slanting hill, Beatrice Rukanyanga looks over her lush green fruit garden boosted by weeks of steady rains, a rare occurrence in this part of the country after seasons of back-to-back droughts. Beatrice started fruit tree growing after joining the Kwatanisa Womens Group, a local group in Uganda’s Hoima district…
Diana Taremwa Karakire is a freelance journalist based in Uganda.
Leonardo DiCaprio, famous for films from Titanic to What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and more recently The Revenant has now become known for his passion for the planet. Last month he received the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum for his work combatting climate change. During his acceptance speech in…
Just before global leaders gathered in December 2015 for the COP21, the world was inundated with news on the changes our climate has undergone in recent decades. The scientific and non-scientific communities released proofs demonstrating that the world is nearing the biggest man-made disaster in the history of mankind. Although the…
Erukilede Julius is a legal practitioner, entrepreneur and energy professional.