Impacts of Climate Change on Uganda in Africa

Thank You! We hope that you will consider Uganda in your climate change action plan.

Africa

Issues and Objective

Changes to Ecosystems & Agricultural Land

The effects of climate change are experienced in Uganda in the form of:

• Species such as the mountain gorilla are endangered as a cause of habitat loss
• Warming temperatures pushing certain plant species up the mountains leaving the the gorillas with fewer food sources. Their habitats will be completely unsuitable by the year 2090
• Higher temperatures leads to more evaporation; plants receive less water to produce biomass
• Changing weather patterns; the dry season is becoming longer and the wet season which is relied on heavily to ripen their coffee fruit is too short. The coffee beans are then less attractive on the international market as well as on the local market
• With the precipitation falling at any time it poses difficulty for farmers. Most plants won’t germinate and if they do germinate they are likely to wither away
• Following the food chain, the livestock is suffering as well

• Negative impacts on Uganda that further diminish the country’s environment and overall reduces Uganda's opportunity to prosper socially and economically
• Objective is to minimize stresses by implementing various systems

Key Concepts

• Contribute to the sustainable improvement of livelihoods and food security of Uganda's rural populations
• Strengthen their adaptation and agricultural production systems in the cattle corridor which are vulnerable to drought
• Build the capacities of communities, commercial farmers and the Government of Uganda to cope with climate change

Changes in Precipitation

• The rainfall trends indicate that in the recent decade, from 2000 to 2010, the rainfall has been 8 percent lower than rainfall between 1920 -1970
• Climate change is likely to increase average temperatures in Uganda by up to 1.5℃ in the next 20 years and by up to 4.3℃ by the 2080s
• Unevenly distributed precipitation can be supported by the observation that the occurrence of droughts has increased drastically in Uganda during the past 25 years
• It is predicted that as climate change continues it heightens the chance of floods
• Regardless, changes in temperature will have significant implications for human health, water resources, settlements and infrastructure

Severe Weather Patterns

Ice and Frozen Soil

• Wet and dry seasons result in seasonal severe weather patterns
• Droughts and extreme heat waves often occur from the dry air during the dry season
• On average the drought period lasts for three months
• Moist air from the Atlantic Ocean and Congo air-mass during the wet season create large storms, floods and eventually landslides
• Wet season also causes yearly hurricanes and monsoons

Climate Data

• The glaciers on the Rwenzori Mountains are rapidly disappearing
• The glaciers that took up about 7 square km at the beginning of the 20th century currently occupy only about 1 square km
• 85% of the ice that was present on Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, in 1912 has melted
• Experts fear that if the ice continues to melt at this pace, the ice will be gone in a matter of a few decades
• Since 1900, the glaciers of Africa have lost 80% of their surface area. About two thirds of Mount Kenya’s ice coverage has disappeared

• Uganda is an equatorial region; experiences tropical climate
• Little year round fluctuation in temperature and no distinct winter or summer
• Hottest months are January and February when the average daytime range is 24-33℃
• The south has two wet seasons from mid-September to November and March to May
• The dry season from December to February is only when it rains less
• The second dry season from June to August is considerably drier
• With 1000 to 2000 mm of rain every year, it can rain at almost any moment.

Mt. Kilimanjaro

Rwenzori Mountains

Changes in Severe Weather Patterns

• Changes in climate is resulting in a shift of weather patterns
• Weather patterns will become unpredictable and more severe than the past
• Hurricanes - result of warmer conditions, prevailing winds and higher precipitation.
• Monsoons - increased due to southerly winds from Asia.
• Severe storms such as the ones above result in tragic floods and landslides.
• Heat Waves and Droughts - significant increase in frequency and length
• Affects crops, living situations, wildlife, and people

Changes in the Occurrence of Insect-Borne Diseases

• Changes in the occurrence of insect-borne diseases are a result of climate change

• Fluctuations in temperature alter migratory patterns of insects as well as their breeding patterns

• Malaria, Dengue Fever, and the West Nile virus are common diseases contracted from mosquitoes.
• Lyme disease however is a disease that are passed on by ticks.

• These diseases affect all people, and prevents them from being able to complete daily tasks that are necessary to live.

The Effect on the Economy

The Effect on the People

• More than 80% of people in Uganda make a living farming
• Farming contributes to 60% of Uganda's export earnings
• The unpredictable rainfall has cost Uganda 60 million dollars in crop losses every year
• This effects the pay of 80% of people in Uganda
• One of the only ways to combat the problem is by

genetically modifying foods, which is

a problem in itself

• The lack of rainfall has effected the amount of farming available, which has effected the amount of money the people make
• This also increases the prices of food because less crops are farmed which many people cannot afford
• 40% of children's deaths in Uganda are lead to malnutrition, which is as a result of these high food prices
• Uganda is expected to experience a more severe climate with more floods, droughts, heatwaves, and storms
• Uganda will become dryer which will cause disease from ticks, and the tsetse fly, as well as more dust storms which will cause infections

Steps Already Taken

• Uganda has recognized and begun taking steps to counteract the effects of climate change
• The government has attempted to educate the people of Uganda
• Created a "National Development Plan"
• The plan lacks the amount of steps that needs to be taken in order to prevent the effects of climate change

Implementing Our Solution

Realistic Solutions

• Educating the People: volunteers and organizations to continue assisting the people of Uganda in creating methods and solutions.

- teaching others to teach

• Building greenhouses will ensure that any unpredictable changes in weather will not impact the crops

• In order to help reduce the impact that climate change has on Uganda, we should continue to help educate the people
• One strategy is to build greenhouses for the farmers in Uganda to grow their crops
• Another strategy is to use renewable energy sources such as wind turbines and solar panels

-ensure steady income for farmers

• By implementing the use of wind turbines and solar panels, the people of Uganda will be supplied with an ongoing source of energy without compromising the environment

Bibliography

A Climate Trend Analysis of Uganda. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2012/3062/FS2012-3062.pdf

Climate Change & Uganda. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2015, from

Climate Change Knowledge Portal 2.0. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015, from http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportal/index.cfm?page=country_historical_climate&ThisRegion=Africa&ThisCCode=UGA

Climate change and the resurgence of malaria in the East African highlands. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v415/n6874/full/415905a.html

Climate change in Uganda: Understanding the implications and appraising the response. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015, from http://reliefweb.int/report/uganda/climate-change-uganda-understanding-implications-and-appraising-response

FEATURE: Economic assessment of the impacts of climate change in Uganda - Climate and Development Knowledge Network. (2013, February 21). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://cdkn.org/2013/02/taaf-0035a-economic-assessment-of-the-impacts-of-climate-change-in-uganda/

Global Climate Change Alliance. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.gcca.eu/national-programmes/africa/gcca-uganda

Hisali, E., Birungi, P., & Buyinza, F. (n.d.). Global Environmental Change. Retrieved December 1, 2015, from http://down.cenet.org.cn/upfile/53/20131028154350154.pdf

Uganda. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from https://www.safaribookings.com/uganda/climate

Uganda. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2015, from http://www.climatesolver.org/enabling/uganda

Uganda not safe from the effects of climate change. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/638708-uganda-not-safe-from-the-effects-of-climate-change.html

WWF Uganda. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/uganda/

Impacts of Climate Change on Uganda in Africa

Kimberly, Julia & Catherine