How did people in Nigeria’s Niger Delta cities cope with high temperatures?

Details

The study examined perceptions of air temperature variability and mitigation strategies in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, using cross-sectional and descriptive research designs. Researchers purposively selected the capital cities of the nine states in the study area and used simple random sampling to select study elements. They used the Taro Yamane (1967) formula to determine a sample size of 400, allocated proportionally to the cities according to their populations as the basis for distributing the survey questionnaire.

Most respondents were aware of temperature’s impacts and rated their neighborhood temperature as high, but did not know the comfort threshold for air temperature. Most had never taken personal steps to mitigate high temperatures and were dissatisfied with the temperature level in their urban environment.

The study identified urban growth and population increase, urban surface construction materials, removal of trees and vegetation, human-made heat, air pollutant emissions, building congestion and time of season as factors stimulating high temperatures in the cities. Problems associated with high temperature included human discomfort, excessive heat, illness and diseases, soil aridity or lack of water in the soil, poor air quality, an increase in disease vectors, increased energy demand and use, dehydration and regular thirst for water.

The only prevailing mitigation strategies reported were using electric fans (63.50%) and drinking plenty of water (92.50%). The study recommended, among other measures, encouraging tree planting and preservation, having authorities sponsor mass awareness campaigns about practices that worsen high temperatures, and having regulatory agencies strictly control urban growth and enforce environmental policies.

DOI: 10.28991/HEF-2021-02-02-02; the abstract lists the full text as a PDF.