Abstract
Studies in various regions of the world have revealed that air pollution can have a significant influence on local climate. This study therefore considers the impact of concentration levels of atmospheric pollutants on local climate of Delta state, Nigeria. Monthly and annual averaging of the daily pollutant concentrations and meteorological parameters within the period of investigation was carried out. Descriptive Statistics, correlation analysis, coefficient of determination (R2) analysis and least squares regression analysis of the selected meteorological parameters with CH4 and O3 concentrations for the period of 2003 to 2012 and NO2 and CO2 concentrations for the period of 2011 to 2014 were carried out. The regression relationship was then used to obtain predicted values for the meteorological parameters within the period of investigation. The results of the descriptive statistics of annual averages of CH4, O3, NO2 and CO2 concentrations within the period of investigation revealed that the emission levels breached FEPA and EGASPIN limits. The results of the correlation analysis indicated that CO2 had a strong significant positive correlation with temperature with a correlation coefficient of 0.962, while a moderate negative correlation coefficient of 0.549 was obtained for CH4, and very weak correlation coefficients of -0.167 and 0.077 were obtained for O3 and NO2 respectively. CH4, O3 and CO2 had a moderately significant positive correlation with solar radiation with correlation coefficients of 0.661, 0.571 and 0.656 respectively, while a weak negative correlation coefficient of 0.106 was obtained for NO2. CH4 had a strong significant positive correlation with relative humidity with a correlation coefficient of 0.859, while moderate correlation coefficients of -0.516 and 0.646 were obtained for NO2 and CO2 respectively, and a weak correlation coefficient of 0.345 was obtained for O3. CO2 and CH4 had a strong significant correlation with wind speed with correlation coefficients of 0.951 and -0.906 respectively, while a moderate negative correlation coefficient of 0.518 was obtained for O3, and a weak negative correlation coefficient of 0.317 was obtained for NO2. The predicted values of the meteorological parameters showed a significant level of agreement with their measured values. Therefore, among the atmospheric pollutants postulated as influencing meteorological parameters, CO2 appears to be the most strongly significant in explaining temperature variations in this region of Niger Delta, with correlation coefficient of 96.2% and coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.926, implying that CO2 influenced 92.6% variation in temperature in this part of Niger Delta within the period of investigation.
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