Assessment of the Impact of Climate Change on Potential Agricultural Lands in UYO, Nigeria

Abstract

Climate change is a global menace affecting environment and socioeconomic activities around the world. Its effects significantly altered hydrological and environmental activities causing severe damage to farmlands, leading to rise in sea levels, drought and dry spell. This study was carried out in Uyo to assess the impact of climate change on the agricultural lands within the area. The essence was to investigate the economic impact on the farmers.
ArcGIS technology was adapted to carry out imagery of the area under investigation using Landsat 8 satellite data. The parameters analyzed include temperature, precipitation and soil characteristics within a ten-year period (2012-2022). Soil analysis was carried out to ascertain its vulnerability to climatic elements. The OLi band 4 (red) and band 5 (Near infra-red) were used in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) computation, while band 10 is employed for estimation of the brightness of the temperature.
The NDVI values ranged between 0 (low) and 1 (high), and showed a decline from 0.46 in 2017 to 0.34 in 2021. The year 2012 witnessed the driest period while 2016 was the wettest year, vegetated areas have reduced within the study period due to urban expansion and environmental degradation. From the result of the study, climate change influenced temperature which ranged from 260C to 320C leading to wide temperature and precipitation variation affecting soil health, thus reducing crop growth and food production.
This research will provide useful information for formulating long term agricultural policies for the region and the state at large.