THE TEMPERATURE

Climate literacy low

The average national climate change literacy rate — the percentage of the population that has heard about climate change and thinks human activity is the cause of climate change — is only 37% in Africa, with vast differences among countries, researchers from the universities of Cape Town and Connecticut have found. The study was published in the journal Nature Climate Change. “The climate has already warmed by 1.1°C. By anticipating future climate change impacts when making decisions about their livelihoods, careers and investments, people can better safeguard their futures,” said lead author Nick Simpson of the African Climate and Development Initiative. “Without climate change literacy, hundreds of millions of people across Africa will not be able to sufficiently adapt to climate change.”

New group of micro frog

A new sub-population of the critically endangered micro frog has been found in a “hidden” wetland on private land in the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area on the Agulhas Plain. This brings the number of known sites for this tiny frog, which is about the size of a human thumbnail, to only five sites in the world. Until now, it was believed that only four subpopulations remained between the Cape Flats and the southern tip of Africa. The total area this amphibian species occupies in the world amounts to just 7km2 with its numbers decimated by urbanisation, agricultural expansion and invasive alien vegetation.