Climate Change Effects on Nigerian Coastal Areas

303 Words2 Pages
Climate change or global warming has become a new reality, with deleterious effects: seasonal cycles are disrupted, as are ecosystems; and agriculture, water needs and supply, and food production are all adversely affected. Global warming (climate change) also leads to sea-level rise with its attendant consequences, and includes fiercer weather, increased frequency and intensity of storms, floods, hurricanes, droughts, increased frequency of fires, poverty, malnutrition and series of health and socio-economic consequences. It has a cumulative effect on natural resources and the balance of nature. The impact of climate change can be vast. In Nigeria, this means that some stable ecosystems such as the Sahel Savanna may become vulnerable because warming will reinforce existing patterns of water scarcity and increasing the risk of drought in Nigeria and indeed most countries in West Africa. As well, the country’s aquatic ecosystems, wetlands and other habitats will create overwhelming problems for an already impoverished populace. Preliminary studies on the vulnerability of various sectors of the Nigerian economy to Climate Change were conducted by NEST. The sectors evaluated were based on seven natural and human systems identified by the IPCC, and condensed into five. They are: • Human settlements and health; • Water resources, wetlands, and freshwater ecosystems; • Energy, industry, commerce, and financial services; • Agriculture, food security, land degradation, forestry, and biodiversity; and • Coastal zone and marine ecosystems. The study determined that virtually all of the sectors analyzed manifested some evidence of vulnerability to climate change. None were unaffected, nor will remain unaffected in future by changes to climatic conditions. In fact more recent assessment, although in regional and global scale, not only corroborate the
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