Start main page content

Curiosity 9: #ClimateEmergency

- Curiosity

2020: The year of extreme weather and how to mitigate the climate change.

The ninth issue of Wits University’s award-winning research magazine, Curiosity, is themed #ClimateEmergency (the 2019 Oxford Word of the Year) and is now available online athttp://www.wits.ac.za/curiosity/.

Curiosity 9: #ClimateEmergency | www.wits.ac.za/curiosity/

The United Nations last week confirmed that 2019 was officially the second hottest year on record, and that globally “we expect to see much extreme weather throughout 2020”.

Climate change impacts all of us and inaction is no longer an option. We've witnessed the devastating Australian bushfires and, closer to home, a crippling drought has ravaged the southern parts of South Africa, threatening more than half a million people in Lesotho where tens of thousands are “one step away from famine”.

“At Wits we are using our intellectual prowess to develop critical thinkers who are cognisant of the effects of climate change and who can tackle the emergency with fervour,” writes Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Postgraduate Affairs at Wits University, in this issue’s editorial.

In this issue, our researchers answer questions, highlight the challenges and issues, and provide answers through their research on how we can map a sustainable way forward during this critical year.

We interrogate the issues around: 

  • Population control vs. birth control in #ClimateAction [pages 8 – 11]; 
  • How climate change also heralds poorer matric results as teens, in particular, inherit a warmer Earth [pages 12 – 13]; 
  • The ambitious aims of #ClimateEngineering and whether it can save the planet [pages 42 – 43]; 
  • The rise of the African eco-warriors and #ClimateJustice as the world elites fail [pages 46 – 47]. 

网易体育 Curios.ty

Curios.ty is a print and digital magazine that aims to make the research at Wits University accessible to multiple publics. It is available in hard copy and online at the Wits website here: http://www.wits.ac.za/curiosity/

网易体育 and to republish Curios.ty stories  

? All material in this publication is copyright and all rights are reserved. Reproduction of any part of the publication is permitted only with the express written permission of the Head of Communications at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. For permissions, send an email to curiosity@wits.ac.za.

Follow us on: 

For our latest #ResearchForGood stories, visit: http://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/.

Contact Wits Communications should you require more information or visit our News&Events section for the latest news, media releases and to find an expert.

Share