TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL VARIABILITY STUDIES WITHIN SOUTH-SOUTH REGION OF NIGERIA

The annual rainfall and temperature variables from 1978-2017 for the South-South region of Nigeria were retrieved from the records of NiMet in order to ascertain the recent extent of the variation in the climatic conditions of the region. The methods used for the analyses are simple approach, coefficient of variability (CV), anomaly approach, trend evaluation using parametric and non-parametric methods, and the data homogeneity test. The results show that the differences between 1978-1997 and 1998-2017 revealed variability of; -7.0 mm, -0.3oC, and -0.3oC for rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures respectively. The overall CV of the maximum temperature, minimum temperature and annual rainfall is 0.026, 0.036, and 0.145 respectively. From the anomaly results it was unveiled that 21 years recorded higher rainfall whereas 19 years recorded lower rainfall. Moreover, 24 years were warmer than normal, 13 years were less warm than normal while 3 years were having a normal temperature. The Sen’s estimator slope of the annual rainfall recorded a downward trend of -94.0 mm/yr during 1978-1987 decade with a slope of -3. There were upward trends of 90.0 mm/yr with a slope of 1, 30 mm/yr with a slope of 1 and 118.0 mm/yr with a slope of 1 for 1988-1997, 1998-2007, and 2008-2017 decades respectively. While the maximum temperature recorded a downward trend of -0.1℃/yr with a slope of -1 in 1978-1987 decade. It recorded a rising trend of 0.1℃/yr with a slope of 0 in the 1998-2007 decade. The remaining two decades recorded no trend in the maximum temperature with a slope of 1 and 0 respectively. Similarly, the minimum temperature recorded upward trend of 0.1℃/yr with a slope of 0 in 1988-1997 periods, while 1978-1987, 1998-2007, and 2008-2017 decades recorded no trend with a slope of 2, 0, and 1 respectively. This study has again unveiled the fact that there is variation in the climate. Accordingly, there is a conceptual need to keep the general public on alert due to its vicious impacts so as to take the appropriate measures and adaptation opportunities for its mitigation

Measurement of electromagnetic fields from high voltage transmission power lines in Evbotubu Area of Edo State, Nigeria

For over three decades there has been a growing understanding of the effects of electric and magnetic fields along High voltage Transmission Power lines (HVTPLs). These fields are higher close to the HVTPLs and fall with distance. Magnetic fields vary as the load on the HVTPLs changes whereas electric fields stay roughly constant.HVTPLs generate large values of Extremely Low frequency (ELF) Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs). This research gives an analysis of EMFs emitted by 330kv HVTPLs in Evbotubu Area of Edo State, Nigeria and compare measurements of these EMFs with the international standard threshold values. The magnetic field shows health effect as its exceeds the threshold value at some point while the electric field at all points is still below the limit as recommended by International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).The research also identifies the implications for a precautionary approach to ELF EMFs and makes practical recommendations for precautionary measures