CLIMATE change poses a potential threat to the whole living world. Many species of animals have already been endangered by its ugly claws. The developing countries in particular are the worst sufferers of the effect of climate change.

The sun somehow feels closer here, more intense, more personal. As Philip Lolua waits under a tree for a scoop of food, heat waves dance up from the desert floor, blurring the dead animal carcasses sprawled in front of him.

Farmers worldwide managed 32.2 million hectares of agricultural land organically in 2007, nearly 5 percent more than in the previous year and a 118-percent increase since 2000. Organic farming is now reported in 141 countries; about two thirds of this land area is in industrial countries, and nearly half of the producers are in Africa.

Somalia and Sri Lanka are among the countries at greatest risk from climate change, while the US and Japan are within the top 15 nations least at risk.

Africa and much of South Asia face extreme risk from climate change but top carbon polluters will be relatively shielded from its ravages, according to a ranking of 166 countries obtained by AFP on Wednesday.