Urbanization and Land Use Change Impact on Climate: A Case Study of Owerri West, Nigeria

Abstract

Land Use and Climate changes are major drivers of global environmental changes. Land use changes influences climatic changes at various temporal and spatial scales. Both earlier and present researches have shown significant effects of land use land cover changes on climate. High urbanization and industrialization derived land use changes have resulted in reducing available forested and vegetated lands in developing-country cities. This study analyzed the dynamics and effects of land use land cover changes on climate considering changes in variation of temperature, pressure and rainfall amount in Owerri West, Imo State Nigeria. Landsat image analysis was employed to assess the effect of land use/land cover (LU/LC) changes overtime with climatic variables in Owerri West, Imo State Nigeria for 20years. Climatic data of three series (2002, 2012 and 2022) and remote sensing data (Landsat 7 ETM+ imagery of 2002 and 2012; Landat 8 OLI of 2022) were analyzed to determine the trend and statistical significance of the variables relationship across the 20year study period. Result showed significant land use land cover and climatic changes on built-up, forest and farmland/fallow areas across the 20year period. Urbanization derived built-up increase in the study area led to reduction of available forest and agricultural lands. Temperature increase across the 20year period was also observed as a major climatic change. Correlation of land use change against climatic change showed strong significant positive correlation justifying that land use changes affected climatic changes within the study area. It is recommended that proper land-use planning and management be adopted by relevant authorities to reduce climate change impacts which are capable of posing a global risk, affecting terrestrial ecosystems, food security, deforestation and land degradation activities.