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ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND CLIMATE VARIABILITY IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FROM ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO  THE  STUDY

Nigeria’s persistent energy crisis has weaken the industrialization process and significantly undermined the efforts to achieve sustained economic growth, increased competitiveness of domestic industries in domestic, regional and global market and employment generation. According to statistical review of world energy 2013, world energy consumption refers to the total energy used by all of human civilization. This involves all energy harnessed from every energy source applied towards humanity’s endeavor across every single industrial deep implication for humanity’s socio-economic political sphere.

Olisina and Odumade (2012) reported that the future range of the changes in rainfall and maximum temperature are between -192 to 198 (mm) and -159 to 2.480C respectively. The unpredictability of climate poses some negative effects such as flooding, poor agriculture yield, famine, air pollution etc. This confirms that the growing awareness of the rate earth’s climate is changing is at alarming rate. Ojekunle et al (2014) revealed that the global temperature for the past 100 years is 0.72-0.740C and that of Nigeria between the two climate period under study is 1.800C.

In Nigeria, the most significant indicator of climate changes are temperature and temperature related parameter such as rainfall, humidity, evaporation and sea level rises. The alteration or the fluctuation in this indicators pose threat to the human existence such as, health, water resources, biodiversity, agriculture and food security and forestry.  Climate Change are said to be caused by some anthropogenic factors and nature such as biotic processes, variation in solar radiation received by earth, plate tectonic and volcanic eruption. The concept of anthropogenic factors is the contribution of human activities like energy consumption or production to Climate variability (e.g burning of fossil fuel). Global warming emission resulting from energy production and energy consumption are an environmental problem. Greenhouse gases are not the only emission of energy production and consumption. Large amount of pollutant such as sulphurous oxide (Sox), nitrous (Nox) and particular matter (PM) are products from the combustion of fossil fuel and biomass are products of the greenhouse gas emission. The world Health organization estimates that 7 million premature deaths are caused each year by air pollution (WHO 2014).

Energy is widely regarded as a propelling force behind any economic activity and indeed industrial production. In Nigeria, energy serves as the pillar of wealth creation evident by being the nucleus of operation and engine of growth for all sectors of the economy. And Nigeria population estimated to be 140 million by Onakoya et al (2013), is endowed with enormous energy resources such as petroleum, natural gas, coal nuclear, tar, sand, solar, wind biomass and hydro. The human exploitation of these resources leads to the consumption of energy by the user.

Climate Change with no doubt poses threat to human existence and energy consumption activities are source of the threats. Some causes of climate change in Nigeria are from emission of gases. Greenhouse gases emissions is an anthropogenic activities from burning of fossil, carbon dioxide, methane, Nitrous oxide and High global warming potential etc. Studies over studies have shown that the mean air temperature in Nigeria between 1901 and 2005 was 26.60C while temperature increase for the 105 years was 1.10C. This evidence is obviously higher than the global mean temperature increase of 0.740C as recorded since (1860). This confirms that climate change or variability is obvious in Nigeria.

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