It was another hot February in the Boland. Sweaty hot nights distilled again in my mind why we do this work. I try to go without a fan, or air-conditioner, as long as possible to feel the pressure of mounting climate change. The stress of heat unrelenting even during the night. This is apparently what poses the most serious threat to vulnerable people. If the days are hot, but there is a respite at night, the body can recover from the pressure of adapting to the increased temperatures. But if the nights continue unabated, the body’s ability to deal with the heat is affected. There are a host of symptoms which develop in escalating degrees of seriousness – heat edema, rashes, muscle cramps, exhaustion, syncope, stroke.
We deal with increased irritability, loss of concentration and mental agility, so too a loss of ability to do skilled tasks. I wonder what the cost in production is to the economy? Women, children and people over 45 are less tolerant than the rest. Other factors include heart disease, high blood pressure, respiratory disease, diabetes, and a compromised circulatory system, sweat production or electrolyte regulatory system.
Another reason I try to keep cool naturally is of course to save carbon (and more people suffering) and money. Would a focus on this topic seem alarmist at this stage? Well, heat stress is now known as the number one killer in Australia, accounting for more deaths than floods, cyclones, bushfires and storms.
The number of people expected to die from heat stress is set to double this century – according to conservative predictions. A group of researchers from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta say death by heat waves may increase tenfold by 2050 in the USA. In Australia they are set to quadruple by 2050. And Africa? Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Pacific and Indian Ocean coastline regions are the MOST at risk for dangerous health effects of climate change. Also large sprawling cities with their ‘heat island’ effect.
We also know how increased temperatures fuel problems like malaria due to mosquito proliferation, and other water-borne diseases. What to do with such information? How to give this a space in your day-to-day life and actions?
‘Cognitive dissonance’ is a concept often referred to in the climate context.
“Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon which refers to the discomfort felt at a discrepancy between what you already know or believe, and new information or interpretation. It therefore occurs when there is a need to accommodate new ideas, and it may be necessary for it to develop so that we become "open" to them.” (learningandteaching.info)
So we feel the dissonance between what we learned in the past – the ‘right’ and respected way to live and work. And now this! How do we adapt and bring our awareness into every aspect and moment of the day? Allow yourself to feel the discomfort and to respond to it. E-motion sets us in motion. Every day there is a small change we can make. They all add up and set new trends. ‘BE the change’ is becoming a bit of a cliché now, but that is indeed what is required.
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Learners and educators from eight Cape Town schools attended the annual Project 90 by 2030’s Leadership Clubs Summit hosted by Rhodes High School in Mowbray.
The newly-launched 2015 SEED Awards seek to recognise start-up enterprises that aim to generate environmental, social and economic benefits at the local level.
Recent news coming from this country focuses on two main issues: the effects of falling oil prices and the anti-shale gas drilling protests in the southern region.
A dedicated arts and education advocate, Grammy Award-winner Kathy Mattea is also deeply involved in social and environmental activism. She believes that music can influence social change by giving a voice to those who have none.
This is not an argument for or against the use of marijuana. Neither am I trying to prevent the pilots or law enforcement from doing their job. My concern is with the bigger picture – the regular use of glyphosate-based herbicides and its effects on the environment.
The core drivers of climate change cause other problems too. The good news is, for every problem there’s a group of people who would benefit from solving it.
WWF’s Salim Fakir asked the Presidency to rethink the so called need for nuclear power in his response to President Jacob Zuma’s 2015 State of the Nation address.
There aren’t many things more powerful in life than witnessing a movement coming together behind a simple idea: it’s up to us to end the age of fossil fuels.
Active citizens from across the world are called to come together by Habitat for Humanity for the Desmond Tutu International Build Week from 2-6 March at Pelican Park.
There is a massive international effort afoot to raise money to relocate 100 rhinos away from the devastating poaching syndicates of South Africa to Botswana, where poaching rates are low.
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Chair of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network is calling together a group of bishops from various countries impacted by climate change.
Greenpeace activists today protested at the opening of the two-day long ‘2nd Nuclear Industry Congress Africa 2015’, demanding a halt to shortsighted nuclear plans and the prioritisation of renewable energy investments amid South Africa’s energy crisis.
As the rich and powerful meet to discuss how best to secure, extract, process and transport Africa’s natural resource wealth at the African Mining Indaba, women from extractive-impacted communities will be meeting just a few kilometres away to put forward the alternatives.
For many South Africans, the water crisis is already here. For others, research and projections show, it is only a matter of time – and perhaps not a great deal of time.
As many as 31 pesticides with a value running into billions of pounds could have been banned because of potential health risks, if a blocked EU paper on hormone-mimicking chemicals had been acted upon, the Guardian has learned.
A giant black leopard’s entire personality was changed when he communicated with the amazing animal-whisperer Anna Breytenbach in The Foster Brothers’ latest film The Animal Communicator.
Greenpeace’s iconic ship – the Rainbow Warrior – has arrived in Cape Town for a month long tour of the South African coastline, as part of a Greenpeace campaign to highlight the fact that renewable energy investments are the solution to the current electricity crisis.
During 2014 renewable energy from SA’s first wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) projects brought R0.8-billion more financial benefits to the country than what they cost.
The Government of South Africa announced that it has teamed up with REN21 – the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century – to organise the next International Renewable Energy Conference (IREC) in South Africa in autumn 2015.
For years I have been passing by an old, roofless house on my route to work. Despite my hurried scramble to the office, I would always look out for her. Sad, abandoned and enigmatic, she has intrigued me.
We need to protect our honey bees, not only for their survival, but also for our own. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) recently concluded a five-year study focusing on pollinators and in particular honey bees.
Women, grassroots activists and leaders recently gathered in Johannesburg for a Southern African exchange on “Women stand their ground against Big Coal”.
If you think it’s OK to use the popular exfoliants to scrub your face or body, think again. Where do these undigestable pellets end up? In the oceans and tummies of sea creatures.