African Climes

The greenhouse effect is primarily natural, and is caused by a group of gases resident in the atmosphere that absorb and retain heat. The greenhouse effect is a phenomenon whereby there is a relatively thin envelope of gases in the lower atmosphere that act like a greenhouse does. A greenhouse glass cover lets in sunlight but blocks the escaping heat from leaving thus warming up the physical conditions of the enclosed space. This allows for the manual control of the weather in the greenhouse and so optimum environment for plant growth and crop production. In this case, greenhouse gases in the planetary atmosphere allow for incoming solar radiation to pass through the air and reach the earth’s surface. However, when this light hits the ground it is converted to infrared heat, and reflected back to outer space. But these gases absorb this heat, preventing it from escaping and warming up the entire planet. The earth from space - image credit (Visible earth/NASA)       ...

Plastics are directly derived from the refining of crude oil, natural gas and coal. As an element, plastics don’t naturally exist, and are manufactured artificially by mankind. Since they are not a naturally occurring substance, they do not decompose easily, and can take up to five hundred years to return to basic elements. Therefore, every inch of plastic that has ever been manufactured exists in nature to this day. Unfortunately that means that plastic litters almost every corner of the globe, from frozen mountaintops to the thick sheets of ice which contain embedded plastic, to the deep ocean trenches thousands of feet below and on waterways globally. But most ubiquitous has to be the plastic found on dry ground, in the soil and literally everywhere you look. Plastic is used everywhere in the world, and in every sector. From shower caps to detergent bottles, to cutlery and cars, and buildings and computers, plastic is used in one form or another by practically all of mankind. ...

  2021 was a busy year in climate, as events rescheduled from 2020 finally took place. The year was also part of the warmest seven years streak and emissions continued to rise as economies resumed in full swing.   January 2021 tied with January 2018 as the sixth warmest, coming in at 0.24 degrees above the 1991-2020 average. This was according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Holland convened a virtual climate adaptation summit attended by different stakeholders to discuss adaptation and creating a climate resilient future. The result was the adaptation action agenda, meant to put the focus of climate action on adaptation. Intense snowstorms pelted Spain, while the UK was hit by record rain. Cyclone Ana wreaked havoc in Fiji. February recorded the lowest temperatures globally in 6 years. In the same month, UN Climate Change launched a report that showed that the world was still off track in terms of ambition to cut emissions to match the 1.5 temperature goal this ...

Energy is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing over two thirds of the share. This is from industry, electricity production, transport and heating/cooling. When combined, all these sectors using energy in one form or the other produce over 75% of emissions from the global tally. When we talk of energy and the emissions produced, it refers to fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) which are the main source of energy used in the planet. In the year 2018, 81% of all energy used was fossil fuels. Energy is necessary for economic development, and so fossil fuels have been used since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to power economic growth. Of note is that these emissions largely come from the developed world, the west, with 75% of current emissions from the G20 countries. In the EU, energy produced 78% of carbon emissions in the year 2015. Energy security is defined as the constant supply of energy at inexpensive prices. Long term energy security is the abilit...