Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
people killed. In 1966 Robert Kennedy visited Luthuli bringing more focus to the South
African political situation. Oliver Tambo followed Luthuli as head of the ANC but the internal
division, partly because of the Freedom Charter and alliance with the Communist Party, caused
the founding of the later more radical PAC (Pan African Congress) and its military wing the
Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA). The APLA got into a fight with the ANC in the
Tanzania Itumbi Camp, resulting in the assassination of Sibeko and the Tanzanian Military
attacking the camp and killing several of APLA. The events are not entirely clear but were
somewhat revealed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Under Bishop Tutu two billion dollars is spent annually to deliver affordable housing. The
other big financial need is the building of power plants to supply the mining, manufacturing,
and new industries, apart from the booming population of 50 million with an average of 40
people per square kilometer compared to 32 in USA and 255 in UK. The new Medupi power
station will cost nearly $20 billion and Eskom, the national electricity company, predicts it
will need to spend some $200 billion through 2026 to double the annual power consumption of
some 40,000 MW to 80,000 MW to meet South Africa's power needs. This will largely come
from coal fired plants, although power will also be purchased from a new nuclear power plant
in Botswana. South Africa also exports much of its coal. In 2010, 60 million tons out of a
world total of about half a trillion tons (the USA mines about one billion tons a year), were
exported; the world's fifth most. This is largely due to China and India but 70% is still used
locally for power production and the iron and steel industry. Of note, every ton of coal
produces four tons of CO2 and annually we humans produce about 30 billion of tons of CO2
emissions in the world from coal (40%), oil (40%) and natural gas (20%). CO2 is the most
plentiful of the thirty some greenhouse gases, followed by methane, which captures 60 times
more heat than CO2. The next most common is nitrous oxide that is 270 times more effective
than CO2 in trapping heat. Generating this power will also require a lot of water and South
Africa, with an annual rainfall of only 464 mm compared to the global average of 857 mm, is
largely arid. Water in South Africa costs, on average, $1 per cubic meter compared to USA
where it costs .80 cents.
Apart from human use, this also needs to support 23,000 plant species, over 1,000 native
trees, 100s of mammals, and 900 bird species, 100 snake types, and 22 national parks, apart
from twice as much now set aside for commercial wildlife farming and private game reserves.
Indeed, tourism of 10 million people is now 8% of the GDP, more than that generated by the
200 tons of gold exported annually.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search