Climate change poses a major threat to South African livelihoods, landscapes, and culture. Researchers at the University of Cape Town have recently released a synthesis report highlighting the potential impact of climate change in South Africa and how these changes will impact our economy and ecosystems.
30 NOVEMBER 2023 | STORY ALACIA ARMSTRONG. PHOTOS ROBYN WALKER. Read time 4 min. The Cascading Climate and Health Risks in African Cities (CASCADE) consortium was officially launched recently with a focused mission: to advance the understanding of critical urban health challenges faced by African cities and point towards practical and effective interventions. Led by Dr Chris Jack and Professor Bruce… Read more »
Enablers of transdisciplinary collaboration for researchers working on climate risks in African cities. This study explores enablers that help researchers undertake collaborative transdisciplinary work with non-academic actors to co-produce knowledge on complex climate risks in African cities. Enablers were explored using a qualitative case study approach and expansive learning theory, which emphasizes the embeddedness of… Read more »
Data for decision-making for sustainable food systems transformation in the Eastern Cape of South Africa: what is needed? Transforming global food systems to promote food and nutritional security can help alleviate both poverty and ill-health, and support sustainable development. Such transformations need to be tailored and sensitive to the vulnerabilities and needs of marginalized communities… Read more »
In early April, we posted a preliminary assessment of the remarkable series of rainfall events that affected the south-western Cape region from mid-February to late March. That turned out to be just the start of an extraordinarily long and intense rainfall season for the Winter Rainfall Zone. Arguably the most severe storm of the season… Read more »
Exploring the role of transdisciplinary learning for navigating climate risks in African cities: The case of Lusaka, Zambia Climate risks in African cities are complex. Actors must adopt new, collaborative practices to respond to such risks. The theory of expansive learning was deployed in this study to investigate the process and nature of change emanating… Read more »
Classification of large-scale environments that drive the formation of mesoscale convective systems over southern West Africa Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) are frequently observed over southern West Africa (SWA) throughout most of the year. These MCS events are the dominant rain-bearing systems, contributing over 50 % of annual rainfall over SWA. However, it has not yet been… Read more »
The short course on navigating climate risk is a CSAG annual winter tradition. It was therefore a huge disappointment that we were unable to present a course in 2022, and I was determined to make sure that 2023’s course was a success! After a grueling selection process, 17 participants were invited to join us for… Read more »
Probabilistic vs deterministic forecasts – interpreting skill statistics for the benefit of users Owing to probabilistic uncertainties associated with seasonal forecasts, especially over areas such as southern Africa where forecast skill is limited, non-climatologists and users of such forecasts frequently prefer them to be presented or distributed in terms of the likelihood (expressed as a… Read more »