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Climate change is leaving African elephants desperate for water

Climate change is leaving African elephants desperate for water

RACHAEL GROSS and ROB HEINSOHN AFRICAN elephant numbers have dropped from about 26 million in the 1800s to 415,000 today. While this is largely due to European colonisation, poaching and habitat loss, these majestic animals now face another grave challenge. Climate change is causing droughts in much of Africa to become longer and more severe. This damages elephant habitats and denies them the water they need. Due to their unique physiology, African elephants need hundreds of litres of water each day to survive. The African savanna elephant is listed as endangered. If the situation doesn’t change, Africa – indeed, the…
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African mountains are feeling the heat of climate change

African mountains are feeling the heat of climate change

MOUNTAINS are special places. They have distinctive climates that are generally cooler and wetter than surrounding lowlands, and they host plants, animals and landscapes that are uniquely found in these environments. However, mountains are under threat because of climate change, and this has an impact on every single property of mountains, including their climate, weathering and erosion processes, soils, ecosystems, water resources, geological hazards, regional economies, and cultural practices. My work on the impacts of ongoing climate change in mountains highlights the sensitivity of mountain properties and processes to changes in temperature and precipitation – mainly expressed in mountains as…
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Armed conflict and climate change: how these two threats play out in Africa

Armed conflict and climate change: how these two threats play out in Africa

THE world is falling miserably short of reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, a 2015 treaty to keep global warming well below 2? The results of this failure are a greater increase in the prevalence and severity of extreme weather events, more rapid sea-level rises and an elevated risk of triggering irreversible climate tipping points, like the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet or the loss of the Amazon rainforest. The speed and magnitude of these changes have immediate consequences for ecosystem health and biodiversity. Further, sustained climate change threatens fundamental dimensions of human well-being. Author…
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