CSIR Science Scope - Volume 3, Issue 1, June 2008

The appeal for a sustainable earth is now a well-established item on the global political agenda. One can hardly open a newspaper or turn on the television without seeing evidence of people and their activities on the environment.

Our species has come to dominate the ecology of planet Earth in an unprecedented way. Virtually no part of the life-sustaining system - from the ocean depths to the stratosphere - is free of our fingerprints. But for the first time since our remarkable ascent began, the human population growth rate is beginning to slow down.

Land-cover change often indicates land use change with major socioeconomic impacts. The transformation of vegetation cover (e.g. deforestation, agricultural expansion and urbanisation) has significant impacts on hydrology, ecosystems and climate.

Laser technology for a better understanding of the atmosphere

Interventions linked to achieving sustainable development goals, such as access to water and sanitation, food security and health are among South Africa's top technology transfer needs in the face of climate change. This is according to a study conducted by the CSIR in which more than 100 mitigation and adaptation technologies were selected by stakeholders and a project team responsible for the compilation of a Climate Change Technology Needs Assessment. The report forms part of South Africa's obligations as a developing country to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

South Africa's fast-growing economy constrains our ability to mitigate the climate change crisis. Moreover, our country has one of the highest greenhouse gas inventories per unit productivity in the world.

The Little Karoo is a semi-arid region lying in the rain shadow of the Outeniqua mountains of the southern Cape. This region stretches roughly from Montague in the west to Uniondale in the east and is further walled in by the impressive Swartberg mountain range in the north.

The first State of the Air Report in South Africa provides insight into sources of emissions and associated health, welfare and broader environmental impacts. The CSIR was instrumental in the compilation of this report.

The Group on Earth Observation (GEO) emphasises the importance of earth information for global sustainable development : ""Understanding the earth system is crucial to enhancing human health, safety and welfare, alleviating human suffering including poverty, protecting the global environment, reducing disaster losses, and achieving sustainable development. Observations of the earth system are critical to advancing this understanding.""

Water quenches a thirst, nourishes plant life; we use it to clean, transport goods and generate energy, we even use it for recreation. It is therefore easy to understand that an inextricable link exists between water and the economy. ""The time to reflect on the way we manage our water resources is now,"" says Dr Anthony Turton, a CSIR researcher who is shifting water management paradigms and changing the way we think about water.

Water is a scarcs and precious commodity in South Africa. Efficient management of our water resources has a direct bearing on our social wellbeing, our standard of living and the country's economy. The CSIR has been actively involved in the development and implementation of the River Health Programme (RHP) since 1994. The RHP is a national monitoring programme that measures and reports on the ecological state of rivers in South Africa. Its main objectives are to measure, assess and report on the ecological state of aquatic ecosystems; detect and report on spatial and temporal trends; identify and report on emerging problems; and ultimately educate the public at large regarding the health of the country?s rivers.

The 'human footprint' is used as a metaphor for mankind's demands on the earth's ecosystems and natural resources. It is an expression of the amount of land a population needs to produce the resources it consumes and absorb its wastes. Although South Africa's footprint is only slightly higher than the global average, it is more than double that of Africa's average. Our current footprint exceeds our biological capacity by 3,5 million global hectares.

On 1 February 2008 all commercial fishing of wild abalone (also known as perlemoen) was officially suspended in South Africa. This was the result of a direct instruction by the country's Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk, in a bid to ensure the survival of the threatened mollusc and to allow stocks to recover.

Methods to upgrade waste products are generally poorly addressed and manufacturers have few options from which to choose. This results in large quantities of food processing wastes being discarded and used for landfill, or as bulking products with a very low value. The trend worldwide is to 'go green' and use natural resources conservatively and smartly. The CSIR has engaged in several 'green' projects where biotechnology is applied for the beneficiation of industrial wastes.

Regular dry-season fires are a feature of the South African landscape. They are the inevitable consequence of the co-occurrence of three necessary conditions : Fuel to burn; hot, dry weather; and a source of ignition. Vegetation fires in southern Africa consume over 200 million tons of plant material every year, and they are one of the most powerful ecological forces around. On the one hand, our ecosystems are adapted to fires, and even need them to remain healthy. On the other hand, livestock, crops, houses and human life are at risk from fires.

Societal benefits that accrue from earth observation information pertain to disaster mitigation, health, energy, climate, water, weather, ecosystems, agriculture and biodiversity. Viewed as an advanced spatial data infrastructure, the sensor web combines data from multiple sensors and sensor networks to provide feedback to users and other sensors. In collaboration with local and international researchers, information and communications technology (ICT) specialists at the CSIR are researching technologies for integrating the sensor web with scientific workflows.

Cleaner production is the continuous application of an integrated preventive strategy applied to processes, products and services to increase resource efficiencies and promote economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Global climate change is predicted to have substantial impacts on southern Africa's biodiversity. Thousands of species could be committed to premature extinction over the next 50 years.

Although water is not a cure for HIV/Aids, access to a clean and wholesome resource can enhance the quality of life of people with compromised immune systems.