An overview of climate change and variability impact studies in Nigeria

Abstract

The current review discussed the major research advances on the impacts of climate change and variability on various resource sectors in Nigeria. The paper analyses the direction, priorities, and spatial dimension of the climate impact studies in the country alongside the methodological advances. From the findings, studies on the impact of climate on agriculture dominated the review, while studies related to the impact of climate on health and water resources were the least prioritized. In terms of the spatial location of these studies, the review indicated that only 33% of the studies conducted are from the fragile semi-arid region of the country. Although the review has indicated some improvement in the methodological advances, yet, the use of climate and hydrological models has not been very popular in the midst of the reviewed climate studies, and this is probably due to insufficient hydrometeorological data. Most of these studies were found to use simple statistical techniques, perhaps due to their simplicity compared with the climate and hydrological models and less data demanding. More climate impact studies are recommended using advanced techniques such as climate and hydrological models particularly in the semi-arid region of the country where such impacts prove devastating and will likely be more so in the future.