General Overview of Climate Change Impacts in Nigeria

Although no region of the world will be entirely spared, the negative impacts are likely to fall most heavily on poor nations in the tropical region. While data on the global impacts of climate change is available, those at regional levels are scanty and scattered. This prompted this study that took a general overview of climate change impacts in Nigeria. Mean annual and monthly temperature and rainfall data were collected from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency and some States’ airports for a period of 105 years (1901-2005). Published data from different sources as acknowledged in the text were also used. Histogram, trendline and time series were the statistical tools employed to analyse the data. The results show that while temperature increased by 1.1°C for the 105 years, rainfall decreased by 81 mm. Desert encroachment, coastal inundations, drying up of surface waters and shift in crops cultivated over time were also noticed. Greenhouse gas reduction and adaptive measures were recommended.