Impacts of Climate Change, Land Use and Land Cover Changes on Watersheds in the Upper East Region of Ghana

Abstract

Issues of global warming and climate change as a result of the aggravation of greenhouse gases and other anthropogenic activities have remained a global discourse since time immemorial. Climate change has increased temperatures and reduced the amount and distribution of rainfall. This has become a major concern to scholars and researchers alike. This study, therefore, investigates the impacts of climate change in the North Eastern part of Ghana between 1985 and 2016. The study looks at land use and land cover changes in the watersheds of the Tono Reservoir using satellite images. Satellite images were extracted and imported into ERDAS 2010 for processing. Layer stacking was performed to put all the bands together as one file. Sub-setting was done to extract the Tono Reservoir and its environs. Climate variables such as rainfall, temperature were analysed to find their relationships with water levels of the Tono reservoir. It was found that rainfall and water levels of the Tono reservoir were decreasing at 4.4% per decade and 8% per annum, respectively, while closed forests and grasslands had reduced by 5.51% and 7.44%, respectively, between 1985 and 2016. There were increases in open forests (2.8%), shrublands and bushes (0.97%) and water bodies (1.2%). The study recommends that collaborative efforts between the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture were necessary to safeguard natural resources in the country.