Literature reviews have become increasingly prominent in scientific discourse; however, few have critically examined the geographic distribution of research, particularly in the field of biometeorology, where studies remain disproportionately concentrated in the Global North. Building on previous regional reviews and special issues, this paper critically examines geographic disparities in publication trends, authorship, and me...

Sunshine influences a range of biometeorological parameters, from human health to the enjoyment of touristic destinations. Sunshine has therefore become an important meteorological variable in biometeorological indices and the causal analysis of the impact of climate on humans. However, ground-based recording of sunshine hours is sparse, particularly in African countries. Methods to estimate sunshine hours from more ubiquitous...

Precipitation in Lesotho is highly spatially variable, a feature of the high altitude and rugged topography. The hydroclimate dynamics, despite being critical to the water security of Lesotho and adjacent South Africa, are poorly understood. Ratios of oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in meteoric water are excellent tracers of hydroclimatic processes. This study presents the first analysis of stable isotopes from surface waters in...

The 6th Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects increasing thermal‐associated morbidity and mortality under anthropogenically induced warming. Over 100 indices exist to quantify thermal stress, and among these, the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was developed for regional investigations of thermal stress influences on human health. Although by definition a universal index, current applicati...

The pelagic fisheries beyond the continental shelves are currently managed with a range of tools largely based on regulating effort or target catch. These tools comprise both static and dynamic area‐based approaches to include gear limitations, closed areas and bycatch limits. There are increasing calls for additional area‐based interventions, particularly expansion of marine protected areas, with many now advocating closing 3...

Extreme cold events (“cold waves”) have disastrous impacts on ecosystem and human health. Evidence shows that these events will still occur under current increasing mean temperatures. Little research has been done on extreme cold events, especially in developing countries such as South Africa. These events pose a significant threat due to the low adaptive capacity, urgent development needs and relatively inadequate infrastruct...

Changes in rainfall seasonality across South Africa may have detrimental impacts on crop yields and surface water supplies. Despite this, these have rarely been investigated across the South African summer‐, winter‐ and year‐round rainfall zones (SRZ, WRZ and YRZ respectively) using consistent methods. Rainfall seasonality changes are explored here using daily rainfall and temperature records for 1987–2016 from 46 meteorologic...