April 17
Africa: How to End Hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa - Fight Inequality, Gender Imbalances and Climate Change
A greater part of Africa's population can't afford a healthy diet than any other regional population. Food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa is caused by climate change, high levels… Read more »
April 15
South Africa: Climate Change Is Causing Marine 'Coldwaves' Too, Killing Wildlife
The effects of ocean warming are profound and well-documented. But sometimes changes in the patterns of winds and ocean currents cause seawater to suddenly cool, instead. Read more »
April 09
Africa: Fossilized Dinosaur Eggshells Can Preserve Amino Acids, the Building Blocks of Proteins, Over Millions of Years
As a scientist, lab work can sometimes get monotonous. But in 2017, while a Ph.D. student of paleobiology at the University of Bristol in the U.K., I heard a gleeful exclamation… Read more »
April 14
Africa: Rogue Waves in the Ocean Are Much More Common Than Anyone Suspected, Says New Study
We used three-dimensional imaging of ocean waves to capture freakish seas that produce a notorious phenomenon known as rogue waves. Our results are now published in Physical Review… Read more »
April 15
Africa: Reptiles in South Africa Are Under Threat - but There's Good News Too
Media reports about the biodiversity crisis and what researchers have argued qualifies as a mass extinction event tend to focus on the big ecological effects. Melting ice sheets,… Read more »
April 12
Africa: Africa's Wildebeest - Those That Can't Migrate Are Becoming Genetically Weaker - New Study
Wildebeest - large African antelopes with distinctively curved horns - are famous for their great migrations on the grasslands of eastern and southern Africa. One hundred and fifty… Read more »
Zimbabwe: El Niño Drought Leaves Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba Only 13 Percent Full - a Disaster for People and Wildlife
Water levels at Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe have dropped dramatically because of the latest El Niño drought. The country's president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has declared a national… Read more »
April 10
Botswana: Fossil Beetles Found in a Botswana Diamond Mine Help Us to Reconstruct the Distant Past
When most people think of fossils they probably picture bones. But there's much more to the global fossil record: plants, shells, minerals and insects. The study of fossil insects… Read more »
Africa: African Wild Dogs Will Soon Have Their Own Sperm Bank - How Artificial Breeding Will Help Them Survive
Scientists from the Institute for Breeding Rare and Endangered African Mammals have been working in southern Africa for over 15 years to protect endangered African wild dogs… Read more »
April 09
Africa: West Africa's Falling Fish Stocks - Illegal Chinese Trawlers, Climate Change and Artisanal Fishing Fleets to Blame
Average fish catches by traditional fishing communities along the west African coast have declined significantly over the past three decades. Read more »
South Africa: Tiny Weevils Are Waging War On the Invasive Water Lettuce Plant Choking South Africa's Vaal River
Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L.), also known as Nile cabbage, is a free-floating aquatic plant from the family Araceae, the same family as the arum lily. Read more »
April 08
Ghana: Why Is Ghana So Hot This Year? An Expert Explains
Ghana's meteorological agency and the state's health service have issued warnings about a period of very high temperatures expected in the first half of 2024 around the country.… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa Is to Shut Down Captive Lion Farms. Experts Warn the Plan Needs a Deadline
The South African government has officially confirmed that captive lion farms will be shut down. A new ministerial task team report just released has cemented the government's… Read more »
April 05
Africa: South Africa's Crucial Water Supplies From Lesotho - What the Six-Month Shutdown Means for Industry, Farming and Residents
The main water supply to South Africa's economic hub, greater Johannesburg in the Gauteng province, and to the country's breadbasket in the Free State, is scheduled to be cut off… Read more »
April 01
Africa: After 10 Years of Work, Landmark Study Reveals New 'Tree of Life' for All Birds Living Today
The largest-ever study of bird genomes has produced a remarkably clear picture of the bird family tree. Published in the journal Nature today, our study shows that most of the… Read more »
April 04
Africa: South Africa's Conservation Model - Why Expanding the Use of Biodiversity to Generate Money Is a Good Idea
South Africa's government is calling for public comments on an updated version of its existing biodiversity economy plan. Read more »
April 03
Kenya: Kenya's Wildlife Conservancies Make Old Men Rich, While Making Women and Young People Poorer
Kenya once had an exceptional abundance and diversity of wildlife. But as the country's population boomed, wildlife lost space to people, buildings, roads and agriculture. Read more »
Africa: Africa Now Emits As Much Carbon As It Stores - Landmark New Study
A landmark new study has found that, in the last decade, the African continent has started emitting more carbon than it stores. When the total amount of carbon that is sequestered… Read more »
Nigeria: Microplastics in Nigeria's Osun River - New Study Flags Alarmingly High Levels
The Osun River is one of the major rivers in southern Nigeria. It flows from its source in Ekiti State, through several states, before emptying into Lagos state's Lekki Lagoon. It… Read more »
April 01
Africa: El Niño Disasters - Govts Know What's Coming, but Are Unprepared - What Must Change
Drought disasters in southern Africa are mainly attributed to a lack of preparedness, inadequate response and mitigation and poor risk reduction measures. With little to no… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's Laws Aren't Geared to Protecting Against Climate Change - Judges Are Trying to Fill the Gap
South Africa has plenty of environmental laws but none that specifically oblige government officials to consider the risks and impacts of climate change when they approve new… Read more »
March 31
South Africa: Stingray Sand 'Sculpture' On South Africa's Coast May Be Oldest Example of Humans Creating an Image of Another Creature
South Africa's Cape south coast offers many hints about how our human ancestors lived some 35,000 to 400,000 years ago during the Pleistocene epoch. These clues are captured in the… Read more »
March 27
Africa: Venomous Snakes Could Start Migrating in Large Numbers If We Hit 5ºc Warming
A global group of scientists has predicted that climate change may cause dramatic movements in venomous snake populations across many countries in Africa. The scientists took into… Read more »
March 26
Madagascar: We Built an AI Tool to Help Set Priorities for Conservation in Madagascar - What We Found
Artificial Intelligence (AI) - models that process large and diverse datasets and make predictions from them - can have many uses in nature conservation, such as remote monitoring… Read more »
March 21
Africa: Pangolins in Africa - Expert Unpacks Why Millions Have Been Traded Illegally and What Can Be Done About It
Pangolins are fascinating creatures known for their unique appearance and distinctive scales. They are mammals belonging to the order Pholidota and are native to Africa and Asia.… Read more »