Tag Archives: Now climate change seriously

 A
report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
issued in September 2008 warned that 80 percent of Uganda will become desert within
100 years. This warning should be taken very seriously. Already there are some
parts of the country where desert conditions are evident especially during the
dry season.

It
is important to remember that the present Sahara desert was once fertile and green where crop cultivation and herding thrived.
Around 5000 BC, animals including cattle were domesticated in the area. And
between about 4000 BC and about 2000 BC the Sahara was full of economic activity and well populated.

Then
the climate changed: wet periods became shorter and eventually the area turned
into a desert forcing the dwellers to move away into other parts of Africa and Asia. Fortunately there were places to go to.  

In
order to take corrective measures in Uganda, there is an urgent need to
identify the causes of thermal and hydrological changes that are taking place. So
far there are three schools of thought.

(more…)