Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 1 October 1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# The impacts of climate change on South Africa’s wine industry are multifaceted and profound. This is according to University of the Witwatersrand researchers. The country produced 934-million litres of wine last year, of which 306-million were exported, generating approximately ten-billion-rand. The researchers say climate change is expected to make rainfall patterns more erratic, leading to increased occurrences of droughts and floods. They add that such volatility not only results in diminished yields and crop losses but also threatens predictability.

# The Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment has registered 217 fire protection associations in a bid to proactively manage uncontrolled fires. Some areas in the country are rated as extremely high-risk areas because more than 90-percent of the area is covered with woodlands. Deputy minister Bernice Swarts says one of the biggest threats to natural vegetation, property and valuable life is uncontrolled veld and forest fires. She adds the department is aligning the associations to municipal boundaries for better resource management.

# And finally: Part of the border between Italy and Switzerland is set to be redrawn as the glaciers that mark the boundary melt. While national boundaries are often thought of as fixed, large sections of the Swiss-Italian border are defined by glaciers and snow fields. The two countries have agreed to change the border under the iconic Matterhorn Peak, one of the highest summits in the Alps. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, severely impacting its glaciers. Switzerland’s glaciers lost four-percent of their volume last year, and six-percent in 2022.

Stay tuned for more news………….