South Africa is likely to be particularly vulnerable to global change, given its aridity, highly diverse ecosystems and the high dependence on ecosystem services for water, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, tourism and others. Southern Africa is also influenced strongly by oceanic systems such as the southern oceans and El Nino.

Global change refers to the interconnected set of phenomena, resulting largely from human interactions which have altered the environment over virtually the entire planet at an accelerating rate during modern times. It includes:

• Changes to the composition of the atmosphere and oceans (biogeochemistry and ocean acidification)
• The nutrient loading of the biosphere
• The global, regional and local climate
• The distribution and abundance of species
• The cover and use of the land surface
• The use of marine and coastal goods and services
• The size, location and resource demands of the world’s population, as well as its patterns of governance and economic activity.

We focus on the following areas of research:

• Understanding a changing planet
• Observation and monitoring
• Long term environmental observation
• Earth observation, using remote sensing technologies
• Ocean dynamics around southern Africa
• Improved measurements of southern ocean dynamics
• Managing the drivers of coastal system dynamics
• Linking air, land and sea
• Coupled modelling of the earth system
• Ocean/atmosphere and land/atmosphere interfaces – improved characterisation and interactions
• Adapting the way we live to by providing scientific information to improve resilience and sustainability in a variable and changing environment
• Understanding vulnerability and building resilience
• Preparing for rapid change and extreme events.

Key research projects are

• River-influenced Bights and Bays (RIBBS)
• Southern Ocean CO₂ Observation Programme
• Sea level rise
• Estuary protection
• South African Risk and Vulnerability Atlas
• Applied Centre for Climate and Earth Systems Science (ACCESS