Current Perspectives to Environment and Climate Change Vol. 3

Tropical Forest Landscape Change and the Role of Agroforestry Systems in Southern Nigeria

2021-08-11T09:12:02+00:00

The paper analyzes tropical forest landscape change and deforestation trends in Nigeria. Emphasis’ are on the issues, the environmental analysis of the trends, factors influencing it, and community agroforestry efforts. The time frame and setting for the study runs through the West African nation of Nigeria during the periods of 1976 through 2005 at the national and state levels. In fact, Nigeria was once covered by widespread vegetation comprising of humid tropical forests in the south and savannah grasslands in the north rich in biodiversity. A great percentage of this luxurious vegetation has been cleared by the pressures mounted by human activities with eventual degradation. In terms of methods, the paper uses mixscale approach based on descriptive statistics, temporal spatial analysis and mapping, and photographic images to analyze the trends associated with tropical deforestation. The results show visible changes in the form of large scale decline of Nigeria’s forest landscape over the years. This resulted in the disappearance of forest resources and vegetation cover with mounting threats to sensitive natural areas. Aside from the socio-economic elements linked with the problem, community efforts at the margin using agroforestry systems showed some promise with many benefits to stem the tide of deforestation. To remedy the problems, the paper offered some recommendations ranging from policy overhaul to education.

Carbon Stocks Potential in Regenerating Trees of the Tropical Coastal Forest Ecosystems

2021-08-11T09:14:45+00:00

Estimation of carbon in the regenerating tropical coastal forest is needed to support conservation and forest monitoring strategies. This chapter presents the determined carbon stocks in regenerating species across forest sites subjected to deforestation because of crop-farming and livestock grazing. The study used thirty-three independent measurements of tree carbon stocks from thirty-three tree families found in the coastal zone of Tanzania. The vegetation was inventoried using a floristic survey of the woody component across intact, crop agriculture and livestock disturbed land-use sites. The biomass was then estimated by employing the existing allometric equations for tropical forests. Thereafter, the above-ground stored carbon was quantified on the sampled tree species found in each land uses. The tree varied (p ≤ .05) in carbon stock across species and land uses. The average carbon (Kg/ha) stored in the regenerated adult trees was 1200 in IFS, 600 in ADS, 400 in LDS. Saplings had 0.43 in LDS, 0.07 in ADS and 0.01 in IFS. Also, seedlings showed an average of 0.41 in IFS, 0.22 in ADS and 0.05 in LDS. It shows that crop-agriculture highly affects the regeneration potential of trees, biomass accumulation and carbon stock than livestock grazing. To restore the carbon storage potential of coastal tropical forests, crop-agriculture must be discouraged, while livestock grazing can be integrated into forest management. Indeed, further studies are required to gauge the integration levels of any anthropogenic activities, so that the natural capacity of coastal tropical forests to regenerate and stock carbon is not comprised further.

Evaluation of Three Geostatistical Interpolation Methods for the Estimation of Average Daily Rainfall

2021-08-11T09:18:45+00:00

This study focuses on evaluating the results from three geostatistical interpolation methods used for the estimation of average daily rainfall in ILWIS 3.7. Rainfall data from nine (9) gauging points over the Upper Deep River Basin, North Central Nigeria were used.The total catchment area is 6076 km². The moving average method, ordinary kriging technique and nearest point or Thiessen method were used for the interpolation. The rainfall values used were for five (5) days in the same month where rainfall data for at least six (6) of the nine (9) gauging points were recorded, since rain did not fall on the whole the catchment on the same day. The results obtained from the different geostatistical methods used were different but closely similar with the moving average method recording the highest rainfall values for all interpolations. The techniques behind the methods were evaluated and discussed based on the results obtained. From the results it was observed that the moving average method calculated half of the maximum rainfall within the catchment and assigned that value for the average rainfall while in the Thiessen polygon method, the results obtained were similar to the arithmetic average of the rainfall values with all zero points counted as one point. The work demonstrated that remote sensing and GIS techniques are fast in the estimation of average rainfall over a catchment area and the estimated rainfall data for any point within the catchment can be obtained from the output raster maps. It is recommended for GIS users to choose the geostatistical method that best suits their purpose.

Groundwater Nitrate

2021-08-11T09:21:33+00:00

Groundwater is the main source of drinking water for many small agricultural communities. Nitrate concentration in groundwater is a major problem in Nira River basin area, which is mainly due to the run off or seepage of chemical fertilizers from the agricultural field. A total of 45 water samples were collected in the period of post-monsoon (POM) winter and pre-monsoon (PRM) summer seasons from bore wells. The water samples were analysed using standard methods of APHA suggested for analysis of nitrate. Groundwater quality parameter varies spatially in different seasons. In the present study, spatio-temporal variation in nitrate levels in bore wells of Baramati Tahsil area is examined. The results of analysis showed that nitrate concentration in POM and PRM was above the maximum permissible limit of WHO and BIS recommended for drinking purpose. In POM 74% groundwater samples from canal irrigated area and 11% from non-canal-irrigated area were above the standard limit of WHO and BIS. In PRM 66.67% and 11% samples respectively from canal irrigated and non-canal-irrigated area were above the maximum permissible limit of WHO and BIS (45 mg/l). This indicates that peoples especially children using the water from bore wells with higher concentration of nitrate than standard limit, stands a high risk of methemoglobinemia (sometimes referred to as “Blue baby syndrome”). In canal irrigated area concentration of nitrate was found higher than the non-canal-irrigated area. This may due to the use of more nitrogenous fertilizers by farmers in their farms, improper disposal of animal and human wastes in canal irrigated area as compared with non-canal-irrigated area. The groundwater of such bore wells was not suitable for drinking purpose without treatment at the time of analysis. Nitrate containing groundwater is more effective and useful for irrigation purpose. The nitrogen can be removed from drinking water by using treatment such as ion exchange, biological de-nitrification and reverse osmosis.

Recovery of Pure Slaked Lime from Carbide Sludge: Case Study of Lagos State, Nigeria

2021-08-11T09:27:32+00:00

Carbide sludge is the by-product of reaction between calcium carbide and water in the production of acetylene gas for welding purposes. This by-product is discarded as waste due to high content of impurities as a result of the reactants and reaction processes. In this research work an attempt was made at developing an appropriate process technology for the recovery of pure slaked lime from Nigeria’s automobile welders’ carbide sludge using solubilisation and evaporation process technology. The percentage purity of the slaked lime recovered through the process was 88%. The recovered slaked limes had pH of 11.93, were soluble in glycerol and dilute acid, insoluble in alcohol, and sparingly soluble in water. The optimum percentage yield was 78.2% at a ratio of 1:1000(w/v) of sludge to water held for 24 h at room temperature.

Temporal and Spatial Variability in Water and Sediment Characteristics of Abule Agege, Abule Eledu, Ogbe, Creeks Adjoining Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria

2021-08-11T09:31:43+00:00

Lagos lagoon is known to contain a vast number of anthropogenic stressors that resulted from the influx of human activities due to the increase in human population, industries and incursion of contaminants from adjoining thus making the ecosystem highly contaminated. The degree of this contamination can be affected by the seasonal variations in time and space. The spatial and temporal variations in the hydrochemistry and sediments characteristics of three (3) Lagos lagoon’s creeks were investigated for six months (June, 2016 to November, 2016). Sub-surface water and sediments were collected with a 1 dm³ water sampler and Van-veen grab, respectively and analyzed. Water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and conductivity of the water samples and pH, nutrients (nitrate and phosphate), total organic matter (TOM) and total organic content (TOC), alkalinity, acidity and particle size of the sediment samples were analyzed. The physico-chemical parameters in the water and sediment from the sampled creeks showed none significant differences (P>0.05). The study showed an increasing level of parameters’ rates analyzed, indicating increased contaminants in Abule Eledu and Ogbe creeks. Water temperature maintained a relatively uniform temperature with dissolved oxygen values range of 1.6 to 3.1 mg/L. Conductivity was higher in June to August while high prevalence of nutrients was observed in October and November. Abule Agege and Abule Eledu recorded TOM and TOC that were above 15 mg/kg in June to August while alkalinity and acidity were high in October (6.63 mg/kg) and November (7.72 mg/kg) in the study creeks. The sediment particles size of the creeks ranged from clay, muddy and sandy substratum signifying that they were macro benthic specific. The increase of the parameters’ concentration indicates that the three creeks are highly impacted by anthropogenic stressors, dependent on the source of pollution occurring at the sites as well as controlled by seasonal variations. Continuous monitoring and concerted efforts are needed to be done to prevent future heavy metal pollution, total degradation thereby formulating appropriate protective and conservation measures in the water’s quality of the Lagos lagoon’s creeks.

Biosorption of Cd (II) and As (III) Ions from Aqueous Solution by Tea Waste Biomass

2021-08-11T09:38:53+00:00

Biosorption of Cadmium (Cd (II)) and Arsenic (As (III)) ions from aqueous solution by tea waste biomass was examined in a batch experimental setup. The effects of pH and temperature on the biosorption were studied in this work. The optimum pH values for the maximum efficiency of biosorption of Cd (II) and As (III) ions were found to be 5.5 and 7.5, respectively. The adsorption process was endothermic in nature and spontaneous. Further, about 95% and 84.5% removal of Cd (II) and As (III) ions was obtained at 200 mg/l of adsorbate and 6 g/l and 7 g/l of adsorbent dosage, respectively. The present study showed that tea waste biomass can serve as a good and cheap substitute for conventional carbon based adsorbents for removal of metal ions from industrial wastewater.

A Model of Storage Changes within the Cretaceous Sandstones of Lokoja Formation. North Central Nigeria

2021-08-11T09:43:38+00:00

An assessment of storage changes within the Cretaceous sandstones of Lokoja Formation constituting the sedimentary part of Lokoja and its environs was carried out using USGS GSFLOW-1.0 software to investigate reasons for water problems such as drying of streams and failure of wells commonly experienced in the area. Daily meteorological data from year 2001 to 2010 and hydraulic conductivity for the area were used as input for the model simulation. Model results indicate that storage in the watershed takes place in the soil-zone, unsaturated-zone and saturated-zone and that storage takes place at different periods in the storage zones. Three storage cycles were identified in each of the storage zones. Soil-zone storage is generally higher during the second and third cycles. Storage in the unsaturated zone is lowest in the first cycle with thickness of the zone decreasing to minimum in the second cycle as storage increases to maximum. Storage increased to maximum in the second cycle of the saturated zone with the first and third cycles showing negative storage changes as unsaturated zone thickness increased. Surface runoff, interflow, and groundwater discharge in form of springs contribute stream flow to the watershed. Failure of wells in the area is attributed to the geology and water loss to the surface leading to insufficient water reaching the saturated zone for storage.

Self-protective Measures against Climate Hazards in Ghana: The Case of Dansoman in the Greater Accra Region

2021-08-11T09:50:12+00:00

Self-mitigation and adaptation often require conceptual and feasible innovative mechanisms, locally designed with inputs from key stakeholders. Developing prudent adaptation measures for local communities are often time-consuming, and require in-depth analysis due to the complex nature of climate change, encompassing several sectors and external facilitators. In our quest to achieve Millennium Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 13), placing communities in acute and highly vulnerable locations at the center are essential in determining critical and actual areas stemming these communities, hence, employing bottom-up approach in realizing global goals of regulating deteriorating climatic conditions. The ultimate aim of the study was to find-out self-protective measures, initiated by key proponents in the area. The study employed an action-based, descriptive and inferential statistics in the collection and analysis of data. Response from informants constituting officials from various institutions and vulnerable groups in the area were subjected to content analysis to avoid misjudgments. Results show majority of self-protective measures, initiated by proponents in the area are short-term (reactive) measures which does not have the efficacy and capacity to deal with large scale climate events of greater magnitude and intensity. The study would inform the decision of policy-makers and interested stakeholders towards achieving SDG 13 as well as critical areas to prioritize, both in the short and long term. Further research could be conducted on the extent to which enhancing socio-economic parameters in the area can amplify residents’ susceptibility to climate hazards in the long run.

Using GIS to Assess the Contribution of Farming Activities towards Climate Change in the State of Mississippi

2021-08-11T10:03:16+00:00

The study uses primary data, descriptive statistics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and correlation analysis to analyze the contributions of farming activities to climate change in Mississippi between 1992 through 2002. This involved the assessment of methane emissions from rice cultivation in the state of Mississippi as well as the relationship between the levels of methane gas concentration and other variables associated with rice production. In highlighting the extent to which rice production activities fuel climate change, the results of the study not only showed greenhouse gas emission related rice production activities to be on the rise, but there is a relationship between methane emissions and rice farming. The GIS analysis also points to a visible concentration of rice production activities associated with methane emissions in the major counties of Bolivia, Sunflower and Washington along the Northwest portion of the state. While this raises the threats of climate change predictors in the area. To remedy the problems, the paper suggests five future lines of actions from the need for education to the promotion of emission trading.