Appraising Variations in Climate Change Parameters Along the Lower West African Region

Abstract

Narrow minded skeptics in the twenty first century deny the existence of climate change and the resultant risks threatening the welfare of cities through the destruction of properties, displacement and environmental degradation. The global climate change concern is now more important than ever in the sub Saharan African region of West Africa where the vulnerabilities remain obvious. Accordingly, in the last several years, the lower West African region continues to be an epicenter of inclement weather hazards. For that, there exists mounting evidence of risks based on recurrent challenges triggered by surge in extreme climate parameters in the savannahs, the tropical moist areas and the coastal landscapes in Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal. In these areas of the West Africa region, climate change parameters such as droughts, flooding, storm surge, and elevated temperature and greenhouse gas emissions continue to threaten the surrounding ecology. Just as climate hazards have captured the attention of various scholars in other areas, very little has been done to study the area despite its vulnerability to sea level rise, torrential rainfalls, coastal inundation and storm surge. In all these, the projected climate change trends point to continual dispersion of elevated temperature and evidence of harsh weather conditions all through the region. With the gravity of the hazards now obvious, this research fills that void in the literature, by analyzing climate change parameters threatening the study area with the use of mix scale methods of GIS, secondary data, and descriptive statistics with focus on the trends, factors, impacts and efforts of the institutions. Taking a cue from the analysis, the results show the prevalence of climate change risks and impacts in the form of flooding hazards, droughts, greenhouse gas emission, sea level rise, pollution, environmental degradation and displacement of citizens. With the impacts attributed to socio-economic and physical elements, the GIS mapping reveals a gradual spreading of climate change hazards under different scales to various areas across the region from Nigeria to Senegal. To remedy the issue, the paper proffers some suggestions such as the need for adaptation, the design of efficient planning and policy in the region.