Proceedings of the 15th International Academic Conference, Rome

ASSESSMENT OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE SAVANNAH SUGAR PROJECT AREA, ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

ABEL ADEREMI ADEBAYO, ABUBAKAR SADIQ YAHYA

Abstract:

The Savannah Sugar Company was established in 1984 to boost local production of sugar in the country. To ensure all year production, the Kiri dam was built on the Gongola River to supply irrigation water to the sugar estate. This study assessed the pattern of climate change in the Savannah Sugar project area over the last thirty six years. The climatic variables examined were rainfall, minimum and maximum temperature. Monthly climatic data were collected from the company’s meteorological station at Gyawana. The temporal scales used are before and after the sugar project, and 1975 – 2010 (36years). The data were subjected to descriptive analysis, trend analysis and t-test. The results of the t- test indicated that there are significant differences in the means of all the climatic elements except rainfall before and after the commencement of the sugar project. Trend analysis showed that all climatic variables except rainfall exhibited upward movement. Rainfall was declining by about 5mm/year while temperature (maximum and minimum) were increasing by about 0.08 – 0.090C per decade. This implies that the project area is becoming warmer and drier partly due to the land use and other activities relating to the sugar manufacturing company. Sustainable tree planting is recommended to mitigate the adverse effect of the rising temperature.

Keywords: assessment, temperature, rainfall, climate change, trend analysis, Savannah Sugar company, Kiri dam, Nigeria

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2015.015.005

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