The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
New data from NASA claims that a third of the world’s water reservoirs are running low and numerous causes, including climate change, are being implicated. Twenty-one of the world’s 37 aquifers are past the tipping point of being sustainable. The most troubled areas are closest to the equator. However, the ones holding the most negative balances are the Arabian aquifer and the Indus Basin. According to this report from RT, scientists, governments and households around the world...
Seventeen years ago, a warm wind was blowing across the pacific. As it blew, it pushed some warmed waters westwards, piling them high to the north east of Australia. When the winds eased, the warm waters washed back across the vast ocean releasing masses of heat into the atmosphere in what became the mother of all El Niño events. It was 1998 and the climate seemed set on a frightening trajectory. But the years that followed didn't live up to predictions, leading to a crisis of...
Created via a partnership between the University of California (Davis) and vehicle manufacturer Honda, this zero-net energy home is heated and cooled by the earth and also generates enough power from solar energy to run a car and feed energy back into the grid. Scientists took local weather conditions into account when designing the house to optimise heating and cooling. It boasts some of the most cutting edge energy efficiency solutions to date. The project’s collaborators intend to...
Saliem Fakir -
Two forms of anarchism will further imperil the energy crisis – first there’s Eskom’s anarchic pursuit of large power stations like the nuclear plant. Second, there’s the fact that those citizens and corporations who can afford it, are following their own path in response to the financial crisis and mismanagement within Eskom.
Neither situation is desirable. However, the need for pragmatic forms of local power supply (localism), both for rich and poor producers as...
According to psychologists, when we're faced with uncertain threats about things we might lose in the distant future, the human brain invents all kinds of excuses not to act on them today. Climate change is one such issue. We respond more to things that are personal, that represent an abrupt change in our environment, that are immoral, and that are affecting us now. At the same time, people also have an optimism bias, which means that we all think that we face lower risks than others....
Fazila Farouk -
Some parts of our world are already being delivered into a new industrial revolution, but this revolution is one that will likely pass by South Africa due to our continued reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear energy.
Embracing the forward-thinking technological advancements of the 21st century, the economies of Northern Europe are realigning completely to adapt to new modes of production based on renewable energy. Clean technology is integrating into the digital economy to produce a new...
