New research by the University of the Witwatersrand's Futures Ecosystems for Africa Program has found that in the nine years between 2010 and 2019, the rate at which Africa released carbon into the atmosphere increased to an alarming 4.5 petagrams, or 4.5 billion metric tons, of carbon dioxide equivalents per year. According to the research, the continent has transitioned from historically being an overall carbon sink to a significant carbon source. For a look at what this means for the continent of African moving forward, Elvis Presslin spoke to researcher in systems ecology at the Wits Global Change Institute, Dr Yolandi Ernst