Outlier Environment

2024-06-17

Age in years of newly discovered termite mounds in South Africa

The world’s oldest active termite mounds have been found in Namaqualand by researchers from Stellenbosch University’s Department of Soil Science and Earth Sciences, working with experts from Hungary.

The mounds in the Buffels River Valley are still inhabited by the southern harvester termite. These mounds are rewriting our understanding of climate and carbon storage back to before the last Ice Age, the researchers say.

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2024-02-19

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Cape Town’s fire season gets off to an early start

Is this year’s fire season in the mother city much worse than in previous years? We take a look at the data from the past 10 years to find out.

2023-07-20

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Why we told the story of South Africa’s deadliest storm

Telling the story of Durban’s 2022 floods was not to document disaster, but rather an investigation into what we can learn from that night

2023-06-29

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Cape Town had more rain in 6 months than whole of 2017 – but it’s still getting drier

The heavy rains in June 2023 were caused by a series of cold fronts. As more people build homes in high-risk areas flooding is likely to increase

2023-04-24

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What Durban’s floods tell us about climate resilience and coastal cities

An investigation of how climate change affects coastal cities and how floods in Durban, South Africa, are an example of how such cities can prepare for the future.

2022-11-11

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Extreme temperatures in South Africa

The hottest temperatures have almost all been in the past 30 years

2022-05-24

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SA is the biggest wind and solar producer in Africa, but most of its energy still comes from coal

While other African countries are taking greater strides compared to South Africa to rely on renewable power even with new renewable plants opening up in SA