Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 9 December 1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dion George, has condemned the illegal harvesting of the West Coast rock lobster, and the indiscriminate targeting of its egg-bearing females. A vessel was apprehended carrying two-thousand-679 West Coast rock lobster tails, including 125 tails from egg-bearing females in the Overberg region last week. The department’s spokesperson, Peter Mbelengwa, says these illegal activities destroy millions of potential lobsters that could contribute to a sustainable marine ecosystem:

# Water and Sanitation deputy minister, David Mahlobo says government is increasingly making use of groundwater as one of the viable options to augment the current available water and increase supply. Mahlobo has acknowledged partnerships with the international communities with regard to their contribution in the South African water sector, which guaranteed a sustainable and equitable supply of water to all South Africans:

# And finally: Earth experienced its second-warmest November on record, second only to 2023, making it all but certain that 2024 will end as the hottest year ever measured. This is according to a report by the European climate service Copernicus. In November, global temperatures averaged 14.10 degrees Celsius. Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess says heat waves over the oceans, and a loss of reflective sea ice and snow cover, probably contributed to the temperature increase this year. Last year’s record heat was caused partly by an El Nino weather phenomenon.

Stay tuned for more news………….