African Climes

Climate change often seems to be a huge problem, a global problem, something that cannot be solved by the ordinary person. ‘But what can I do about such a huge problem, a global problem?’, you ask. It is true, climate change is a global problem, affecting the planet everywhere albeit in different ways. It is also true that most emissions are from big industries and some things like transport emissions seems unavoidable since we all use a vehicle at some point or the other. This is changing however, with the rise of electric cars powered by renewable energy. But worry not, there are things that every person, as an individual can do to reduce their carbon footprint [1] . The goal in climate action is to shift to a low carbon pathway. A low carbon pathway is a way of life that promotes the release of zero or very little amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. It is a collective effort, where the whole of society, industries, businesses, civil society, private sector, government...

T o recap, global warming is caused by the action of greenhouse gases refusing exit to outward bound infra-red radiation. In other words, these gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydro fluorocarbons, per fluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride) being concentrated in the lower atmosphere trap solar energy being reflected back to space. This heat, being retained, results in the warming of the atmosphere. N ow, oceans are the lifeblood of the Earth. These big masses of water covering most of the Earth regulate a lot of things, including absorbing gases. They also absorb most of the excess heat on Earth. Rising temperatures as a result of the action of excess amounts of ghgs [1] thereby also affects the seas. N ow, by its nature ocean water is stratified into layers, determined by density and temperature. Because oceans are very deep, they take time to fully react to external forcing mechanisms. For example the waters of the deep are still laggi...