Africa Geographic highlights climate change

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“The initiative grew out of a meeting of the magazines' respective publishers and editors last year,” says Sarah Borchert, editor of Africa Geographic. “The impetus was the declaration of 2008 as the International Polar Year and, initially, the features were going to be focused on the North and South poles. The more we chatted about it, though, the more we realised that the effects of climate change, though most extreme at the ends of the earth, are being felt everywhere and it was decided to put together a collective ‘pot' of strong human-interest stories underpinned by accessible and informative science. As far as we know, this is the first time that ‘unrelated' magazines have embarked on such a joint venture.”

Each magazine commissioned and produced a feature from its part of the world that takes its readers into the day-to-day realities of climate change for people around the world. From the African continent, the magazine presents an investigation into how altered rainfall patterns and shrinking icecaps on Kilimanjaro have resulted in weakening flows of one of Tanzania's key rivers, the Pangani. In 2000, this diminishing resource saw several outbreaks of communal violence along one of its tributaries and, although, structures to manage conflict have now been put in place, the question still being asked is, ‘Is this the start of the much-touted water wars?'

From there, the magazine moves into insights into sea-level rise from the perspective of the tiny Pacific island of Tuvalu; Arctic ice melt from Grise Fiord, Canada's most northern community and last outpost of the Inuit; the effects of climate change on the European wine industry - and what winemakers are (and aren't doing about it); and the effects of retreating ice in the Antarctic on the region's key seabird predators - penguins.

“Certainly, we are pushing our editorial scope,” acknowledges Borchert, “but we have done so without compromising two of our trademark qualities - our photographs and editorial excellence. We've also extended the front section of the magazine to encompass even more African animal news to ensure that our readers get what they came for - plus a bit extra.”