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Dude, Where's My Dreads? South Africa's Odd Spate Of Dreadlock Theft

I've been dreadknapped!? And they didn't even take my wallet.

THE TIMES (South Africa)

Worldcrunch

JOHANNESBURG – Jasper Munsinwa was partying at a nightclub in Johannesburg when he noticed his friend, Mutsa Madonko, was missing. “When we found him, he still had his cellphone and wallet with all his money inside.”

Mutsa was passed out, with all his deadlocks cut off.

According to The Times, Mutsa is one of a growing number of people who have had their dreadlocks stolen these past few months. This new trend is linked to the rising demand for natural dreadlocks as hair extensions, said The Times.

In South Africa, shoulder-length dreadlocks cost between $20 and $80, while longer ones can cost up to $280. It takes years to grow proper dreadlocks – 10 years, in the case of Mutsa Madonko.

Hairstylist Lebo Masimong said women were the most at risk of getting their locks chopped off: "You are an easy target if you walk around the CBD central business district and your hair is loose. They don't care about your money or fancy phone. They are only after your hair."

Photo -Knotty Boy Natural Dreadlock Care

Photo - Dreadlocks

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Green

Inside Copernicus, Where All The Data Of Climate Change Gets Captured And Crunched

As COP28 heats up, a close-up look at the massive European earth observatory program 25 years after its creation, with its disturbing monthly reports of a planet that has gotten hotter than ever.

A photo of Sentinel-2 floating above Earth

Sentinel-2 orbiting Earth

ESA/ESA
Laura Berny

PARIS — The monthly Copernicus bulletin has become a regular news event.

In early August, amid summer heatwaves around the Northern Hemisphere, Copernicus — the Earth Observation component of the European Union's space program — sent out a press release confirming July as the hottest month ever recorded. The news had the effect of a (climatic) bomb. Since then, alarming heat records have kept coming, including the news at the beginning of November, when Copernicus Climate Change Service deputy director Samantha Burgess declared 2023 to be the warmest year on record ”with near certainty.”

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Approaching the dangerous threshold set by the Paris Agreement, the global temperature has never been so high: 1.43°C (2.57°F) higher than the pre-industrial average of 1850-1900 and 0.10°C (0.18°F) higher than the average of 2016 (warmest year so far). Burgess, a marine geochemistry researcher who previously served as chief advisor for oceans for the UK government, knows that the the climate data gathered by Copernicus is largely driving the negotiations currently underway at COP28 in Dubai.

She confirmed for Les Echos that December is also expected to be warmer than the global average due to additional heat in sea surfaces, though there is still more data to collect. “Are the tipping points going to be crossed in 2023,?" she asked. "Or is it just a very warm year part of the long-term warming trend varying from one year to the next?”

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