What southern Africa needs to do to manage rising temperatures
The climate situation is already worse in southern Africa than in most other regions. While the global average air temperature has risen by nearly 1°C since accurate weather records began a little over a century ago, in southern Africa temperatures have risen on average by twice this amount.
IPCC 1.5°C report: here’s what the climate science says
The IPCC report focuses on climate change and the impact on ecosystems. If we want to limit human-induced global warming to 1.5°C we probably can. The IPCC report identifies various routes by which emissions cuts would limit warming to 1.5°C; each makes assumptions about future changes in, for example, economic strategy, population growth and the rate at which low carbon energy is adopted.
On the brink of catastrophe
The latest report by the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released on 8 October 2018 says that urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to reach the target of restricting global warming to a maximum of 1.5°C, beyond which, even half a degree will significantly worsen the risk of droughts, floods, extreme heat and poverty for much of the world’s population.
