insert_link Africa Heavy rains cause devastating floods in Dar es Salaam Floods have damaged houses and roads and killed an unspecified number of people after heavy rains pounded Tanzania's commercial city of Dar es Salaam for two days. According to the BBC, many houses near rivers were seen collapsed and roads and bridges destroyed, making it difficult to navigate through the city. The Tanzania Meteorological Agency has warned of heavy rains for the rest of this month. todayJanuary 22, 2024 44
insert_link Environment Why are floods in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal so devastating? Urban planning expert explains By Hope Magidimisha-Chipungu, University of KwaZulu-Natal The devastation caused by the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa demonstrates again that the country is not moving fast enough to adopt appropriate urban planning. It should be integrating risk assessment and management in the design and development of cities. This is becoming more urgent as the frequency of floods increases. Most South African cities were built a long time ago, before […] todayJanuary 22, 2024 15
insert_link Business / Economics Oil demand growth to halve in 2024: IEA World oil supply will continue to rise this year, the International Energy Agency said Thursday, as it predicted that demand growth would continue a downward slide throughout 2024. The Paris-based IEA, which advises oil-consuming nations, said it expects increase in global oil demand to halve from 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) last year to 1.2 million bpd in 2024. It cited economic headwinds, tighter efficiency standards and growth in […] todayJanuary 18, 2024 21
insert_link Opinion Pieces At Davos Forum, Secretary-General Warns of Global Norms Collapsing, Highlights Need to Rebuild Trust, Reform Governance UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland: Thank you very much for your warm welcome. It’s good to be back — to be back and to see Davos highlighting the global crisis in trust. I believe this crisis is the direct result of a paradox facing our world. In the face of the serious, even existential threats posed by runaway climate chaos, and the […] todayJanuary 18, 2024 12
insert_link Africa Mozambique’s cyclone flooding was devastating to animals – we studied how body size affected survival By Jason P. Marshal, University of the Witwatersrand and Francesca Parrini, University of the Witwatersrand Anyone who watches the news will have seen the devastation that tropical cyclones can cause when they reach land, with very strong winds, high rainfall and flooding. A cyclone like this, Idai, moved over Gorongosa National Park in central Mozambique in March 2019. At that time, it was the deadliest storm in Africa. Rainfall […] todayJanuary 18, 2024 15
insert_link Environment Agricultural nitrogen pollution is global threat, but circular solutions await By Claire Asher via MongaBay As the world grapples with escalating climate change, policymakers remain laser-focused on CO2, with humanity striving to decarbonize energy systems, capture carbon, issue carbon credits, and plant millions of trees to absorb emissions. But carbon dioxide is just one of several powerful greenhouse gases destabilizing the global climate, and just one of the human-produced pollutants severely impacting the natural world and threatening to push Earth out […] todayJanuary 18, 2024 18
insert_link Africa Ghana is behind the curve on climate change laws: expert suggests a way to get corporations on board By Kikelomo Kila, University of Huddersfield Ghana has introduced some climate change policies and general environmental regulations but has yet to pass a Climate Change Act. This leaves the country without effective legal and regulatory instruments for addressing climate change. Climate change law expert Kikelomo Kila sets out her findings in a recent paper on why Ghana must not follow the “command and control” regulatory approach. Why hasn’t […] todayJanuary 16, 2024 24
insert_link Business / Economics Salomo Hei of High Economic Intelligence tackles Davos talks, and their impact on Namibia The World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting takes place in Davos from today until 19 January 2024. Key sessions and reports at Davos will look at how climate change affects health, how to close the women's health gap, and how digital tools can transform healthcare. We asked the Managing Director of High Economic Intelligence, Salomo Hei whether talks in Davos would affect middle-income countries like Namibia. todayJanuary 15, 2024 46
insert_link Africa 60% of Africa’s food is based on wheat, rice and maize – the continent’s crop treasure trove is being neglected By Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine African countries have become reliant on a few food items. Just 20 plant species now provide 90% of our food, with three – wheat, maize and rice – accounting for 60% of all calories consumed on the continent and globally. This deprives the continent of diverse food sources, at the very time when research has found massive food and […] todayJanuary 15, 2024 12