The Drakenstein Municipality, through its Water Services Development Master Plan, ensured that citizens had access to efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable water and sanitation services that promote improved livelihoods and economic development. These efforts were acknowledged through the city receiving Green Drop status from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) for its Hermon Wastewater Treatment System.

“The Southern Ocean has managed to protect all of us from some of the most extreme impacts of climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide emissions and the heat generated by these emissions through the greenhouse effect. But this protection comes at a cost to the natural ecosystems of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean,” says Ryan-Keogh.

During his TEDx Johannesburg talk titled “A changing Southern Ocean: The impact of climate change”, Ryan-Keogh explained that 26 years of data revealed that the phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean was becoming more iron-stressed with time.