Carbon-Based

AllAfrica, via BuaNews (Tshwane): Midrand is one of the areas under threat by uncontrolled climate change due to its development on wetlands, said City of Johannesburg's MMC for Environmental Management, Prema Naidoo on Monday. This he said was because a portion of Midrand was built on wetlands, which act as a sponge in the event of an extended period of wet weather.

In addition to construction on the wetland, developers did not take the historic flood line into consideration. "Needless to say that this has adversely affected the fauna and flora of this area. It is immediately obvious that the area of Midrand could be susceptible to the forces of nature.

"If this vulnerability is exposed, it is the city which will be most affected by the loss of revenue, associated costs which accompanies natural disasters and most importantly, by the potential loss of lives," Mr Naidoo told delegates at the two-day City of Johannesburg Mayoral Climate Change Summit, hosted in partnership with the South African Local Government Association, which started on Monday at Nasrac….

Grand Central Airport in Midrand, South Africa, aerial view, NASA, Wikimedia Commons