* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Friday, May 30, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Weekly Entertainment Report May 29-June 1: Where to find lively arts, music, and shows – Manchester Ink Link

    Weekly Entertainment Report May 29-June 1: Where to find lively arts, music, and shows – Manchester Ink Link

    Aziz Ansari made Keanu Reeves Indian food so he wouldn’t feel ‘freaked out’ directing him in Good Fortune (exclusive) – Entertainment Weekly

    Aziz Ansari Whips Up Indian Cuisine for Keanu Reeves to Ease Directing Jitters in Good Fortune

    Cassie Ventura welcomes third child – crossroadstoday.com

    Cassie Ventura Joyfully Welcomes Her Third Child!

    Drew Brees opens Surge Entertainment Center in Metairie hot spot for new businesses – NOLA.com

    Drew Brees Unveils Exciting New Surge Entertainment Center in Metairie!

    Will Gio Stay Or Go On May 27 General Hospital? – Yahoo

    Will Gio Make a Shocking Exit on May 27th’s General Hospital

    First look: Disney shows star villains, Little Mermaid, tech – Yahoo

    Unveiling Disney’s Dark Side: A Sneak Peek at Iconic Villains, The Little Mermaid, and Cutting-Edge Technology!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    4Liberty Announces Collaboration with Itron to Drive Innovation in Utility Technology Adoption and Optimization – FinancialContent

    4Liberty Partners with Itron to Revolutionize Utility Technology and Boost Innovation

    Q1 2025 Quantum Technology Investment: What’s Driving the Surge in Quantum Investment? – The Quantum Insider

    Unleashing the Future: Exploring the Surge in Quantum Technology Investments for Q1 2025

    MIT Team Releases Tempting Report on Electric Aircraft Technology – AVweb

    MIT Team Releases Tempting Report on Electric Aircraft Technology – AVweb

    MSE, DXC Technology expand tech partnership – Sports Business Journal

    MSE, DXC Technology expand tech partnership – Sports Business Journal

    Technology Driving Performance: How Elite MA Plans Leverage Data, Care Coordination, and Advanced Analytics to Thrive Amid CMS’s Rigorous 2025 Standards, Black Book – Newswire.com

    Unlocking Success: How Top MA Plans Harness Data and Analytics to Excel Under CMS’s 2025 Standards

    Arqit acquires Ampliphae’s technology IP, enhancing its global encryption portfolio – GlobeNewswire

    Arqit Boosts Global Encryption Portfolio with Strategic Acquisition of Ampliphae’s Technology IP

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Weekly Entertainment Report May 29-June 1: Where to find lively arts, music, and shows – Manchester Ink Link

    Weekly Entertainment Report May 29-June 1: Where to find lively arts, music, and shows – Manchester Ink Link

    Aziz Ansari made Keanu Reeves Indian food so he wouldn’t feel ‘freaked out’ directing him in Good Fortune (exclusive) – Entertainment Weekly

    Aziz Ansari Whips Up Indian Cuisine for Keanu Reeves to Ease Directing Jitters in Good Fortune

    Cassie Ventura welcomes third child – crossroadstoday.com

    Cassie Ventura Joyfully Welcomes Her Third Child!

    Drew Brees opens Surge Entertainment Center in Metairie hot spot for new businesses – NOLA.com

    Drew Brees Unveils Exciting New Surge Entertainment Center in Metairie!

    Will Gio Stay Or Go On May 27 General Hospital? – Yahoo

    Will Gio Make a Shocking Exit on May 27th’s General Hospital

    First look: Disney shows star villains, Little Mermaid, tech – Yahoo

    Unveiling Disney’s Dark Side: A Sneak Peek at Iconic Villains, The Little Mermaid, and Cutting-Edge Technology!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    4Liberty Announces Collaboration with Itron to Drive Innovation in Utility Technology Adoption and Optimization – FinancialContent

    4Liberty Partners with Itron to Revolutionize Utility Technology and Boost Innovation

    Q1 2025 Quantum Technology Investment: What’s Driving the Surge in Quantum Investment? – The Quantum Insider

    Unleashing the Future: Exploring the Surge in Quantum Technology Investments for Q1 2025

    MIT Team Releases Tempting Report on Electric Aircraft Technology – AVweb

    MIT Team Releases Tempting Report on Electric Aircraft Technology – AVweb

    MSE, DXC Technology expand tech partnership – Sports Business Journal

    MSE, DXC Technology expand tech partnership – Sports Business Journal

    Technology Driving Performance: How Elite MA Plans Leverage Data, Care Coordination, and Advanced Analytics to Thrive Amid CMS’s Rigorous 2025 Standards, Black Book – Newswire.com

    Unlocking Success: How Top MA Plans Harness Data and Analytics to Excel Under CMS’s 2025 Standards

    Arqit acquires Ampliphae’s technology IP, enhancing its global encryption portfolio – GlobeNewswire

    Arqit Boosts Global Encryption Portfolio with Strategic Acquisition of Ampliphae’s Technology IP

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Wildfires in South Africa are set to increase: How legal action can help the country adapt better to climate change

July 18, 2024
in Science
Wildfires in South Africa are set to increase: How legal action can help the country adapt better to climate change
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

wildfire

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

As climate change drives temperature increases and lower precipitation in southern Africa, research has found that there is likely to be an increase in the number of wildfires in regions that are already hot, dry and water scarce.

Massive wildfires broke out in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province on 12 and 13 July 2024, killing six firefighters who were trapped in a blaze and seven other people. The same fires killed 1,600 livestock animals and burnt 14,000 hectares of land.

About 84% of all human settlements in South Africa are located in fire-dependent ecosystems—places in which natural fires can contribute to the health of the ecosystem by clearing out old plant matter. But when fires rage out of control, the damage can include loss of life and injury. Infrastructure, industrial facilities, livestock, fodder banks, agricultural equipment, plantations, homes and resorts are often destroyed.

The major causes of wildfires in South Africa are:

very dry and hot conditions with temperatures of over 42°C
high winds
dry vegetation such as areas where trees have been cut down, with branches, leaves and twigs left on the ground. Land that has become infested with alien and invasive plant species that dry out fast and then burn quickly is another cause.
depopulation of commercial farming areas, with nobody available to fight wildfires when they break out
gentrification and resorts that are separate from resident communities, leaving nobody around to fight fires when these start
new and unskilled people with no capacity to fight fires moving to fire-prone rural areas
landowners who do not adapt their land to the increased risk of fire and who do not keep firefighting equipment on the property
human culpability like dropping lit cigarettes from a car window or carrying out dangerous activities on high fire risk days.

My research aimed to find out how many civil wildfire lawsuits have been decided by South African courts since 1994, and whether these are linked to the warming climate. The cases I found show how the rules for allocating liability for wildfire damages are evolving. The cases make reference to climatic conditions, such as rivers and other conditions on the land being much drier and hotter than normal.

I found that there have been at least 22 wildfire lawsuits decided between 1997 and 2023. There is no climate change law yet that sets out how people who’ve suffered losses from climate-related fires can sue. But the law of delict, which sets out how to claim compensation for injuries and damages, and the National Veld and Forest Fire Act have been used.

These lawsuits are important because if the courts uphold claims for civil damages against negligent landowners, this should compel landowners to comply with the law and put preventive measures in place. These court judgments could limit the number of wildfires that break out.

What does the law say?

In South Africa, wildfires are known as veld (open, natural grassland) fires. The Veld and Forest Fire Act says that owners of land must keep firefighting equipment, people trained to fight fires and protective clothing available. If they are away, a responsible person must extinguish fires and notify neighbors. Landowners are obliged to create fire breaks on their land to stop the spread of fire. However, there are wide ministerial powers to grant landowners exemptions.

To sue for damages from a fire, there must be proof that the fire was started intentionally or as a result of negligence. To claim compensation, there has to be damage that is quantifiable (such as losing a house or a breadwinner). The damage also needs to be wrongful.

In law, this relates to whether holding someone liable for wildfire-related loss is viewed as reasonable in the eyes of the community. In some cases, the courts have accepted that landowners did everything they could to fight wildfires that broke out because of hot and dry weather and quickly became unusually uncontrollable and ferocious.

However, because the risks of climate change are becoming better known, it is more foreseeable these days that wildfires will occur. Landowners who don’t take precautions against wildfires will find it difficult to argue in court that they could not have foreseen a fire starting during a hot, dry period. If they also fail to maintain fire breaks, train personnel or keep fire-fighting equipment onsite, they could fail the reasonableness test, especially on high fire danger days.

What I found

Litigation about the risks associated with climate change is happening. In South Africa, the state has done a reasonable job of putting in place a regulatory standard against wildfires. Using this standard to sue landowners or companies for failing to adapt to the changing climate will become more important as climate-change disasters, such as wildfires and floods, increase.

The failure to maintain a fire break is also a crime. Further research is needed to understand whether criminal penalties have been imposed on negligent landowners.

To date the claimants in wildfire lawsuits have mainly been historically advantaged farmers or landowners who have claimed from other landowners, business owners, municipalities, the state-owned transport entity, and even the Moravian Church. The claims have ranged from R74,000 (US$4,120) to R23 million (US$1.27 million) for burnt plantations, areas of fynbos, sawmill stock, agricultural land, farm fences, orchards, electric wire and livestock.

I did not find any lawsuits brought by working-class communities whose shacks or homemade shelters had been destroyed by fire although there are many such cases. As there are more people in those communities than commercial farmers who are affected by wildfires, this is a clear gap.

There have only been two lawsuits which even mentioned damage to the environment (one lawsuit mentioned trapped lions and another destruction to fynbos). Only three lawsuits mentioned personal injury or destruction of homes by wildfires.

Climate change science has shown that the southern African region is becoming hotter and drier and an increase in the number of high fire danger days is inevitable. The way in which courts are using existing laws to allocate liability for climate risks can reinforce preventive behavior and highlight key gaps. Parliament or the state executive can then address the gaps.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.The Conversation

Citation:
Wildfires in South Africa are set to increase: How legal action can help the country adapt better to climate change (2024, July 17)
retrieved 18 July 2024
from https://phys.org/news/2024-07-wildfires-south-africa-legal-action.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Phys.org – https://phys.org/news/2024-07-wildfires-south-africa-legal-action.html

Tags: scienceSouthWildfires
Previous Post

Strategy enhances breakdown strength and polarization in dielectric nanocomposites

Next Post

Pompeii skeleton discovery shows another natural disaster may have made Vesuvius eruption even more deadly

UMC Health System, Texas Tech HSC to honor endowed chairs, professors – Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Celebrating Excellence: UMC Health System and Texas Tech HSC Honor Distinguished Professors and Endowed Chairs

May 30, 2025
Paris on Politics: Israel-Gaza conflict gets personal in Chicago’s City Council – FOX 32 Chicago

Paris on Politics: Israel-Gaza conflict gets personal in Chicago’s City Council – FOX 32 Chicago

May 30, 2025
Anduril and Meta Team Up to Transform XR for the American Military – Anduril

Revolutionizing Military Training: Anduril and Meta Join Forces to Enhance XR Technology

May 30, 2025
Tennessee Sports Wagering Council cracks down on illegal sportsbooks – WKRN News 2

Tennessee Sports Wagering Council cracks down on illegal sportsbooks – WKRN News 2

May 29, 2025
Geographic redistributions are insufficient to mitigate exposure to climate change in North American birds – Nature

Why Geographic Shifts Alone Won’t Save North American Birds from Climate Change

May 29, 2025
News: NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme launches new call for research proposals , 23-May.-2025 – NATO – Homepage

News: NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme launches new call for research proposals , 23-May.-2025 – NATO – Homepage

May 29, 2025
Trump’s Executive Order Puts Science Under the Thumb of Politics – The Equation – Union of Concerned Scientists

Trump’s Executive Order: A New Era of Political Control Over Science

May 29, 2025
CBS Sports Secures Media Rights to PBA World Series of Bowling in New Two-Year Agreement – PBA Tour

Exciting New Era: CBS Sports Lands Exclusive Media Rights for PBA World Series of Bowling!

May 29, 2025
Utah Tourist Economy to Take $132 Million Annual Blow from Sundance Film Festival Moving to Colorado – SnowBrains

Utah’s Tourist Economy Faces $132 Million Hit as Sundance Film Festival Heads to Colorado

May 29, 2025
Weekly Entertainment Report May 29-June 1: Where to find lively arts, music, and shows – Manchester Ink Link

Weekly Entertainment Report May 29-June 1: Where to find lively arts, music, and shows – Manchester Ink Link

May 29, 2025

Categories

Archives

May 2025
MTWTFSS
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
« Apr    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (650)
  • Economy (663)
  • Entertainment (21,570)
  • General (15,248)
  • Health (9,706)
  • Lifestyle (665)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (665)
  • Politics (672)
  • Science (15,885)
  • Sports (21,170)
  • Technology (15,651)
  • World (651)

Recent News

UMC Health System, Texas Tech HSC to honor endowed chairs, professors – Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Celebrating Excellence: UMC Health System and Texas Tech HSC Honor Distinguished Professors and Endowed Chairs

May 30, 2025
Paris on Politics: Israel-Gaza conflict gets personal in Chicago’s City Council – FOX 32 Chicago

Paris on Politics: Israel-Gaza conflict gets personal in Chicago’s City Council – FOX 32 Chicago

May 30, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version