Climate change is the single biggest environmental issue facing the world today. It has become a great challenge to our generation and its impact is felt in almost every society in the world. Nigeria is one of the most vulnerable countries in Africa. Nigeria as a developing nation with a population of about 200 million people is likely to be adversely impacted by climate change due to its vulnerability and low coping capabilities. Climate change is evidently linked to human actions, and in particular from the burning of fossil fuels and changes in global patterns of land use. The impacts of human activities, as well as those of natural phenomena on global warming, climate change, and the environment, were presented and discussed. Various manifestations of its impact are evident in Nigeria, which includes temperature rise, increase in draught, and scarcity of food instigated by irregularities in rainfall, over flooding, and so on. This paper examines the concepts of global warming and climate change; its impact on the Nigeria ecosystems. It highlights the climate change-related risks and hazards the nation could face if best practices are not employed to prevent and mitigate its impact. Two sets of measures have been advocated for confronting climate change, these are mitigation and adaptation measures. The review explores possible adaptation strategies that are required to respond to the climatic variations and suggests ways that these adaptation strategies can be implemented.

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The Impacts of Climate Change on Nigerian Ecosystems: A Review

A total of 196 samples were collected at an oil-servicing company (station A) and a control station of the New Calabar River during a 7 months investigation. The samples were analyzed for physico-chemical parameters and mycoflora as to assess the impact of the company activities on the river. Generally, values of temperature, pH, BOD5, total organic carbon (TOC), chloride, sulphate, oil and grease were higher in station A than in the control. Analysis of variance using paired t-test showed significant difference in temperature, pH, transparency, DO, BOD5 and in total fungal count at P ≥ 0.01 and in TOC at P ≥ 0.05 between the stations. Heavy metal concentration for cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel and zinc were higher in station A which also showed a high tendency of eutrophication. Mean total fungal counts were up to x102.cfu/ml and the frequency of fungi isolated were Aspergillus (8.12%), Byssochlamys (1.98%), Candida (14.31%), Cephalosporium (6.73%), Cladosporium (6.09%), Fusarium (7.42%), Mucor (4.06%), Penicillum (9.99%), Rhizopus (8.07%), Saccharomyces (17.73%), Sporobolomyces (10.15%) and Trichoderma (5.35%). These fungal genera contain species that are potential pathogens. The high values of BOD5 and heavy metals and low values of DO and total fungal counts in station A is attributed to the activities of the oil servicing company.

O. Obire

Papers

Impact of Industrial Activities on the Physico-chemistry and Mycoflora of the New Calabar River in Nigeria