Demographic Change and Climate Change: The Nigerian Experience

Abstract

In recent time, there has arisen increasing concern about the effects of climate change in the tropical environment, Nigeria inclusive. This concern has prompted a range of researches into the causes and the effects of climate change as well as the possible mitigation measures that can be adopted. This paper examines the imprint Demographic change on Climate change in Nigeria. Sustained population increase as obtained from available demographic records implies a sustained increase in human activities which has resulted into population pressure. The pressure exerted on the resources of any geographic region manifests itself in one form of environmental problem or the other, climate change inclusive. The broad objective of this paper is to establish a link between demographic change and climate change in Nigeria. The specific objectives include; identifying the various human activities going on the different parts of the country and how they contribute to climate change, as well as highlighting some of the effects of Climate change in Nigeria. The method employed is fundamentally descriptive. The findings are that human factors are the causes of climate change in Nigeria as opposed to natural causes. Such factors include : population growth and the resultant population pressure; agricultural practices; deforestation; Urbanization; oil extraction activities and gas flaring in the Niger Delta region, increasing numbers of automobiles with the attendant air pollution and indiscriminate dumping of wastes. The paper also made recommendations on how to limit population growth and how to mitigate the effects of climate change in Nigeria.

Key words: Demographic Change; Population Pressure; Human Activities; Greenhouse gas, Climate Change