global warming - The African Mirror

Jul

2022

Fans, hoses and air-con – heatwave-hit Britons seek relief

SALES of electric fans, hoses, air conditioning units and sprinklers are soaring as Britons swelter amid record temperatures, retailers said. Britain was on course for its hottest day on record with temperatures forecast to hit 40C for the first time, forcing train companies to cancel services, schools to close early and ministers to urge the public to stay at home. Sainsbury's, Britain's No. 2 supermarket group which also owns the Argos general merchandise business, said sales of fans last week rose 1,876% versus the week before, while sales of air conditioning units were up 2,420% and sales of paddling pools…

May

2022

By The African Mirror

Pollution kills nine million people, Africa hardest hit

ENVIRONMENT

GLORIA DICKIE WORSENING outdoor air pollution and toxic lead poisoning have kept global deaths from environmental contamination at an estimated 9 million per year since 2015 – countering modest progress made in tackling pollution elsewhere, a team of scientists reported Tuesday. Air pollution from industrial processes along with urbanization drove a 7% increase in pollution-related deaths from 2015 to 2019, according to the scientists’ analysis of data on global mortality and pollution levels. "We're sitting in the stew pot and slowly burning," said Richard Fuller, a study co-author and head of the global nonprofit Pure Earth. But unlike climate change, malaria, or…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

African cities can do more to protect children from climate change

AFRICITIES

SIX in 10 people will be living in cities by 2030. This is concerning. Cities are responsible for over 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet cities can also do a lot to mitigate climate change and help people adapt to its impacts. Cities can use renewable energy sources, promote greener transport, and get industries to cut pollution and adopt cleaner production techniques. Also, they can form or use existing networks and partnerships to strengthen these efforts. Author RONGEDZAYI FAMBASAYI, Doctoral Researcher: Faculty of Law, North-West University Almost 1 billion children – nearly half of the world’s children – live…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

Consumers left in the dark as corporate net-zero plans fail to add up

ENVIRONMENT

LAURIE GOERING MANY top corporations with ambitious "net-zero" emissions pledges to tackle climate change lack a clear plan to achieve them, and are misleading consumers about how "carbon neutral" their products and services are, researchers warned on Monday. Taken together, net-zero pledges by 25 top global companies - from Amazon to Google - add up to at best an average 40% reduction in emissions, they said in a report scrutinising firms responsible for 5% of the emissions driving global warming. Only Maersk, a Denmark-based global shipping firm, was found to have a pledge of "reasonable integrity", while companies from Nestle to Unilever were…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Africa’s $16 trillion race to de-carbonise

ENVIRONMENT

SETH ONYANGO, BIRD SOUTH Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco and Kenya are building clean energy economies that could rake in billions of dollars in investment over the next decade. All have ramped up investments in renewable energy infrastructure to decarbonise their industries and run their economies with clean fuel. Some smaller states have also set ambitious energy transition targets from fossils, such as Rwanda’s target of generating 60 per cent renewable energy by 2030. Data show there is a huge incentive to decarbonise. In June last year, finance giant, Goldman Sachs projected that spending for renewable power projects in 2021, will…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

UN faces $100 trln shortfall in fight against climate change, inequality – report

ENVIRONMENT

SIMON JESSOP GLOBAL goals tackling poverty, inequality, injustice and climate change face a $100 trillion funding shortfall and are likely to be missed unless 10% of global economic output is directed to the U.N. targets every year to 2030, a report on Friday said. The U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals set targets on everything from the environment to health and equality and have the support of all member states, yet the supply of finance from governments, investors, banks and companies to help meet them has consistently fallen short. Hampered by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the annual shortfall is now…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

EXCLUSIVE: US, EU pursuing global deal to slash planet-warming methane emissions

WORLD

KATE ABNETT and VALERIE VOLCOVICI THE United States and the European Union are making a joint diplomatic push to get countries to commit to cut methane emissions by nearly a third over the next decade, ahead of the COP26 climate change summit in November, according to documents seen by Reuters. The greenhouse gas methane is the biggest cause of climate change after carbon dioxide (CO2), and is facing more scrutiny from governments as they seek solutions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, a goal of the Paris climate agreement. In an attempt to jumpstart action, the United States and…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Madagascar faces one of the world’s first climate change famines

ENVIRONMENT

KIM HARRISBERG THE cracked red earth and sunken eyes of gaunt children, their bellies swollen from acute malnutrition, bear witness to the devastation being wrought by Madagascar's worst drought in four decades. As the south of the island is pushed to the brink of famine, climate change researchers say such harrowing images should serve as an alarm bell over the need for drastic action to cut planet-heating emissions and climate-proof global food systems. According to the United Nations, more than 1.14 million people in the south of the Indian Ocean country are food-insecure due to the drought, which some experts have blamed…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Haj pilgrims face growing heat stroke risks with global warming

WORLD

MAYA GEBEILY AS thousands of devout Muslims flock to Islam's holiest sites in Saudi Arabia for the annual haj pilgrimage this week, scientists warn the sacred rite is under threat due to deadly rising heat. The risk of pilgrims suffering life-threatening heatstroke could rise five-fold with global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial times, found the study in the journal Environmental Research Letters. With an increase of 2C - the less ambitious goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement - the probability becomes 10 times higher, said Climate Analytics, a Berlin-based think-tank. "The region is already susceptible…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda to state agencies: No cash without a climate plan

ENVIRONMENT

CHRISTOPHER BENDANA INSPIRED by a similar diversity policy, Uganda's government is set to require public agencies to allocate part of their budgets to climate change measures if they want state funding, hailing the move as a big step toward meeting the nation's green goals. But while some climate experts say linking funding to climate action is essential to slowing global warming, others warn that already tight local government budgets mean the policy would do little to help. As part of the country's first National Climate Change Bill, passed by legislators in late April, all government ministries, departments, and agencies would…