East African countries are dealing with the impacts of climate change

Most people in the U.S. are largely insulated from the effects of the environment. This allows such weirdness as several years ago, when Atlanta was in a drought, having no more than a trace of rain for months. I made a mention of the drought to another computer programmer. He said "Drought?" He wasn't even aware of the drought. You can bet farmers were. And low income people who often don't have air-conditioning, or who are particularly hard hit by high power charges, are often more aware that the climate is warming.

http://skepticalscience.com/east-african-countries-dealing-with-impacts-climate-change.html

Posted on 17 March 2014 by Guest Author, John Abraham

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This article is supplied by Ms. Lauren Vallez, a freshman student of engineering at the University of St. Thomas. This January, she was in Uganda interviewing experts on the impacts and adaption strategies faced by that country. Here is what she found.

"This January, I found myself sitting across from Senior Human Resource Officer in the Department of Administration, Office of the President of Uganda. I wanted to know whether they were observing changes to their climate, what those changes were, and if plans for adaptation had been developed. Mr. Benon Twineobusingye, Senior Human Resource Manager in the Office of the President told me that they were already facing increased drought and changes to the hydrological cycle.

Much of the Ugandan economy is based on agriculture, a practice infused in their culture. Normally regular wet and dry periods have become more varied. He stated that they are, '…seeing drought. Serious drought that has not happened before. This drought has caused famine in parts of the country. In other parts, there has been too much rain.' He also told me, 'It has been very hot these days. Over the years it has gotten hotter with more unpredictable weather.'

But, unlike many countries which are inactive, Uganda has plans. From the top levels of government, they have enacted policies which encourage reforestation. They also are taking steps to preserve wetlands. Will these steps stop climate change? By no means. But they will help insulate Uganda and its neighbors from the impacts.

His anecdotal perceptions matched with what scientists expect. Uganda, and many other countries in Africa are at or near the equator. Atmospheric circulation patterns provide regular rainy-dry seasons but the water cycle is being modified. This modification may be occurring because of large scale circulation changes, perhaps it is associated with increases in evaporation and water-holding capacity of the air. Regardless of the cause, people in countries like Uganda live close to the ground, acutely aware of changes to seasonal weather. They have cultivated an agriculture based on traditions that are now being challenged.

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