CSAG is a leading international climate research centre based in Africa with broad research skills and competency in both physical and social dimensions of climate, a strong experience in engaging with society, and an excellent track record in capacity development. We prioritize societally relevant research to support responses to climate variability and change.
Having fingers in all “pies” is becoming the life for most scientists,the need to understand information needs,emotions and society in general is fast growing in the quest to answer questions such as: Why is it so difficult to get through to people using scientific facts? Why do people go all out to defend what… Read more »
This is an article I wrote on invitation from Bulletin of Atomic Scientist (weird, I know, but physicists are very interested in changing climate, and from that – it is not a long road to our drought). I look here at the drought from the perspective of a couple of months. The story is written… Read more »
The sooner we know the answer, the sooner we can prepare for summer 2019 By Peter Johnston and Piotr Wolski 15 March 2018 The approaching autumn and winter season in Cape Town is being keenly awaited to see if it will bring sufficient rain to end, or at least alleviate, the drought. If… Read more »
“If the answer to climate change in cities is about a better understanding of policy, values and justice, should we be looking to IPCC for information? Will data and technology give us the answers?” The intervention above one was of the more poignant offered during the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) conference on climate… Read more »
Peter Johnston, University of Cape Town Much has been written about the ongoing drought and critical water shortages in the city of Cape Town. Residents are bracing themselves for Day Zero – the moment at which most of the city’s domestic taps will run dry. But there’s also a great deal to worry about beyond… Read more »
I was asked to write a short piece for an independent Russian (!) media outlet—to be translated—to contribute to answering the title question from a climatological perspective. I’ve been asked to post this to the blog here, having made adapted it slightly for a more South African audience: It is important to distinguish between the… Read more »
With the Western Cape drought now making international headlines on the BBC, the New York Times, and elsewhere, CSAG staff are receiving daily requests for interviews and information about the drought both locally and internationally. The world is now watching to see if Cape Town will be the first major city to actually run… Read more »
Ah, what a drama! Armageddon cometh! We are going to die! If not of disease and agony of thirst, then surely of bad smell, dirty clothes or from the hand of thy neighbour, who, at some stage of desiccation, will transform zombie-style into a Mad Max styled warrior armed with a post-apocaliptic, serrated water bucket…… Read more »
This blog is an extended version of the article published in GroundUp The nature of Cape Town’s water crisis remains a hotly contested issue. There is drought, of course. But there are also possible other reasons brought up in the public discourse, particularly in the social media, such as population and water demand growth, unreported… Read more »