A Statistical Discourse of the Climate of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Abstract

The study aimed at investigating the climate of the Niger Delta Region (NDR) of Nigeria. This is to ascertain the variations in rainfall and temperature in the Niger Delta Region. The study utilized the ex-post facto research design. The study utilized the annual rainfall and temperature time series data from 1925 – 2018 periods. That was generated from the archive of the Climate Research Unit (CRU) Ts 4.03 using Google earth. The grided points of 5ox5o high resolution of thirty-two (32) CRU Ts 4.03 stations were utilized for the study. In order to analyse the data on rainfall and temperature the descriptive statistical techniques were employed. While testing the formulated hypotheses, the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized to decide the significant difference in stations, additionally the Turkey Test was utilized to decide were the difference in the mean lies, while the Mann-Kendell Trend Test was used to determine the upward and downward trends in rainfall and temperature. Thus, the study revealed that the mean distribution of rainfall and temperature in the Niger Delta region for the past ninety-four (94) years showed a downward and upward trend with a mean of 2238.3mm and 26.7oC in rainfall and temperature respectively. While, the highest and lowest rainfall (2600.7mm and 1854mm), was recorded in 1955 and 1984 which indicates an increase of 746.7mm. The highest and lowest temperature (27.4oC and 25.9oC) was recorded in 2017, 1976 and 1977 respectively which indicate a rise of 1.5oC. Furthermore, the study revealed that there is a statistically significant variation in rainfall in the Niger