This year is likely to rank among the top 10 warmest on record since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850, according to data sources compiled by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

The global combined sea surface and land surface air temperature for 2009 from January to October is currently estimated at 0.44°C+/-0.11°C, above the 1961-1990 annual average of 14.00°C/57.2°F.

Climate change is a term used to describe a gradual shift in one or more climatic elements from a long-term norm. The last few years have manifested the change where seasons, for example the rain season, no longer follow the traditional pattern.

Uganda's change in climatic conditions can be visibly explained by among other things, continued deforestation due to pressure on land by an expanding population that demands land for settlement and agricultural practices.

But Uganda's could be a smaller face that represents a problem that's slowly eating into the once enviable green and "conducive" climate Africa used to boast of. The Uganda National Water Development Report of 2005 qualifies this, adding that the African continent warmed up by 0.5 degrees in the past century where the five warmest years in Africa's recorded history all occurred after 1988.

"These changes are attributed to global warming. One impact of temperature rise has been the melting of ice and glaciers on mountaintops. The Rwenzoris are one of the few ice-capped mountains in Africa. Recent studies have shown that the glaciers and ice fields on this mountain have decreased markedly in number," the report explains.

The current nominal ranking of 2009, which does not account for uncertainties in the annual averages, places it as the fifth-warmest year. The decade of the 2000s (2000-2009) was warmer than the decade spanning the 1990s (1990-1999), which in turn was warmer than the 1980s (1980-1989).

Impact

And according to the Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer of the World Meteorological Organisation, Ms Carine Richard-Van Maele, complete data for the remainder of the year 2009 will be analysed at the beginning of 2010 to update the current assessment. She adds that in East Africa, the drought, one of the excesses of climatic change, has led to massive food shortages. In Kenya, the drought was responsible for severe damage to livestock and a 40 per cent decline in the maize harvest.

Carine further told gatherings at the on-going United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009, that this year, above-normal temperatures were recorded in most parts of the continents. Only North America (United States and Canada) experienced conditions that were cooler than average.

Given the current figures, large parts of southern Asia and central Africa are likely to have the warmest year on record. Climate extremes, including devastating floods, severe droughts, snowstorms, heat waves and cold waves, were recorded in many parts of the world. Uganda is seriously looking at trying to ward off any further adverse effects like famine that hit Eastern Uganda. A dossier presented by the Minister of Water and Environment, Ms Maria Mutagamba, says, "Uganda is aware of the fact that the convention notes that the largest share of historical and current emissions originates in developed countries.

The first basic principle is that these countries should take the lead in combating climate change and its adverse impacts by supporting climate change activities in developing countries through the provision of financial support above and beyond any financial assistance they already provide to these countries." The Climate Change Conference began last Monday and is scheduled to conclude this Friday, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ms Mutagamba notes that developing countries and more so the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) like Uganda are to continue with no emission targets for purposes of their economic growth especially through industrialisation. "However, Uganda is willing to undertake nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs), provided they are supported by the developed countries. This support must be measurable, reportable and verifiable," she added.

Uganda's 60-member delegation to the conference is one of the biggest, in terms of numbers, diversity of skills and affiliations. Today, Uganda boasts of an estimated 66 km3 of total annual renewable water resources and an annual average of 2,800 m3 of water available per capita, according to a report titled "Assessing the impact of climate change in Uganda".

However, according to the report, authored under United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), this is the face of rapid population growth, increased urbanisation and industrialisation, uncontrolled environmental degradation and pollution, which are placing increasing pressure on the utilisation of freshwater resources.