Climate Change; Our Impact on the Climate and its Consequences; A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Climate change, sometimes called global warming, is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperatures of the earth’s climate systems and its related effects. There are both natural and anthropogenic contributors to climate change. For example, volcanic eruptions are natural contributors and the burning of fossil fuels with the consequent release of greenhouse gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane. This is the largest human influence on global warming. This study attempted to assess the knowledge, contributory community practices, and perceived effects of climate change in a characteristic suburban community in Africa, where the majority of people are expected to have poor knowledge about the phenomenon. It was a cross-sectional study. The study population comprised townies in the Okada community, excluding students of Igbinedion University. Pre-tested structured questionnaires were the tools for data collection. Data analysis was done with IBM SPSS Version 21 and the level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. A total of 274 respondents participated. 82.1% of respondents had knowledge of climate change with TV/radio (51.1%) being the most widely reported source of information. More than half of the respondents recognized human activities and natural variability as responsible factors. Bush burning (33.3%), burning of fossil fuels (15.3%) [especially cooking gas] and deforestation (12.4%) were recognized anthropogenic contributors to climate change in Okada. Burning (70.1%) was the predominant method of waste disposal among respondents. Of the perceived effects, poor harvest and crop yield (77%) were the most feared effects of climate change to respondents.