South Africa’s 70,000kg rhino horn stockpile must be burnt to prevent illegal trading

South Africa’s 70,000kg rhino horn stockpile must be burnt to prevent illegal trading

By Jason Gilchrist, Edinburgh Napier University Despite a global ban on international buying and selling of rhino horn since 1977, the South African government and owners of private rhino reserves continue to stockpile it. A new report by the EMS Foundation, a South African social justice and conservation organisation, advocates strongly against this practice. Ecologist and mammal conservation researcher Jason Gilchrist discusses what the […]

July 3, 2024 22

Environment

Southern Africa Climate Tipping Points

By Vitalio Angula, via Evergreen News Global Warming and Climate Change could lead to the total collapse of Namibia’s Cattle Industry if global temperatures exceed 3 Degrees Celsius in the second half of the 21st Century experts at a Southern African Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) meeting held in the capital Windhoek recently revealed. The TIPPECC Co-Design and Research Dissemination Meeting with […]

July 2, 2024 43

Environment

Hurricane Beryl pummels Caribbean, strengthens to Category 5

By Chandan KHANNA Hurricane Beryl has strengthened into a top-level category 5 storm after it swept across several islands in the southeastern Caribbean, dumping heavy rain and unleashing devastating winds. Beryl is now the earliest category 5 storm in the Atlantic on record and has developed into a "potentially catastrophic" hurricane, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. The NHC said in its latest update […]

July 2, 2024 28

Environment

Karachi heatwave claims lives

The southern Pakistani city of Karachi is in the grip of an extreme heatwave. The head of the city's largest ambulance service says more than 800 people have died in the last two weeks, even as hundreds more are still receiving treatment for heat-related illnesses. According to Pakistan's Meteorological Department, the maximum temperature crossed the 40 degrees Celsius mark over the last three days, mainly due to the suspension of […]

July 1, 2024 37

Africa

Study: A third of Africa’s great apes at risk from mining of transition metals

Rising demand for the metals needed to power the global renewable energy transition potentially threatens more than a third of Africa’s great apes. Nearly 180,000 gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos face potential fallout from current and future mining projects for these transition metals, particularly in West Africa. Direct and indirect potential impacts from mining on apes include habitat destruction, health threats from light pollution and disease transmission, […]

July 1, 2024 32

Africa

Kenyan farmers turn to WhatsApp & AI tools to combat crop diseases

Farmers in Kenya and other countries are using online chat groups and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help combat crop losses due to pests and diseases. New research shows chat groups modeled on those used in human health care can offer benefits to farmers and enhance their communication with plant doctors. Organizations such as PlantVillage and CABI are using such digital tools and chat groups to expand their […]

June 27, 2024 44

Environment

Elon Musk could avert global species extinction with only a portion of his wealth

A new study has pinpointed the most crucial areas around the world for protecting Earth’s rarest and most endangered species, the vast majority of which are found in tropical and subtropical moist forests. Just five countries — the Philippines, Brazil, Indonesia, Madagascar and Colombia — contain 59% of all identified sites globally. Only 7% of land protected over the past five years overlapped with these critical […]

June 26, 2024 37

Environment

The role and importance of farmers’ associations

By Erastus Ngaruka: Technical Advisor – Livestock & Rangeland Management The agricultural sector in Namibia is the backbone of the country’s economy through its three main pillars, namely, food production, employment creation, and income generation. The sector faces endless challenges associated with climate, market, technologies, inputs, and conflicts amongst others. These are hindering sustainable crop and livestock production in the country at all scales in […]

June 26, 2024 62

Environment

What the 3.2 million-year-old Lucy fossil reveals about nudity and shame

Popular renderings of Lucy tend to dress her in thick, reddish-brown fur. Dave Einsel/Getty Images By Stacy Keltner, Kennesaw State University Fifty years ago, scientists discovered a nearly complete fossilized skull and hundreds of pieces of bone of a 3.2-million-year-old female specimen of the genus Australopithecus afarensis, often described as “the mother of us all.” During a celebration following her discovery, she was named “Lucy,” […]

June 24, 2024 20