AN ASSESSMENT OF FARMERS’ ADAPTATION STRATEGIES TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN PARTS OF YOBE STATE, NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
1.1 General Background to the Study
The global climate has changed rapidly with a global mean temperature increase of 0.70C within the last century (Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007). However, the rate of change is significantly different among regions. This is primarily due to the varied types of land resources with different surface albedos, evapotranspiration and carbon cycle affecting the climate in different ways (Meissner, Weaver, Matthew and Cox, 2003; Synder, Delire and Foley, 2004). According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) in the fourth assessment report, climate change is a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. using statistical tests) by the changes in the mean of temperature, precipitation and wind pattern, and that persists for an extended period typically decades or longer. Climate change is therefore the statistically significant deviation or shift from the average weather conditions of climatic elements. The change could be limited to a specific region or may occur across the globe.
Climate Change is defined in the Article 1 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC: 1992), as ―a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climatic variability observed over comparable time periods‖. Climate Change is principally caused by the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from energy production and consumption. The energy sector is responsible for 84% of global CO2 emissions and 64% of the world‘s greenhouse-gas emissions (International Energy Agency, 2009). The greenhouse gases include Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Hydrochloroflourocarbons (HCFCs), and Carbon Monoxide (CO). Most of the outgoing heat is absorbed by these greenhouse gas molecules and re-emitted in all directions, warming the surface of the earth and the lower atmosphere causing global warming. Global warming according to De Chavez and Tauli-Corpus (2008) is the average increase in the earth‘s surface temperature and ocean as compared to previous centuries.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) fourth assessment report predicted that Africa is highly vulnerable to the various manifestations of climate change and had affirmed that reservations about climate change are inappropriate considering apparent evidences from scientific observations of increase in global average air and ocean temperatures. Ayoade, (1995); Olaniran, (2002) affirmed that the growing climatic variations and the resultant increase in temperature have plunged some localities into experiencing excessive weather conditions in the form of floods, droughts, famine and heat waves, ensuing devastating effects on human existence, agricultural productivity and food security, with many households affected by low economic status.
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AN ASSESSMENT OF FARMERS’ ADAPTATION STRATEGIES TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN PARTS OF YOBE STATE, NIGERIA
