Decade of record heat: South Africa already feeling the burn of climate change

New data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organisation reveal that the last decade was the hottest on record, with global temperatures rising by 1.4°C. 

This increase is rapidly approaching the 1.5°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns that South Africans are already feeling the effects of climate change. 

Senior Manager James Reeler cites the recent flooding in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, along with water shortages along the Garden Route, as clear evidence of this shift.

"What we're seeing now is just a small foretaste of what's to come if we don't stop burning fossil fuels and prepare for the wilder weather of our future climate change," says Reeler.