Urbanization often increases surface runoff and land surface temperature due to loss of land cover. However, the effect of urbanization on local atmospheric humidity remains understudied despite the disastrous effects it can have on human health and water‐food‐energy‐ecosystem nexus. Here, we examined changes in atmospheric humidity in the West Africa (WA) region between 1985 and 2018. There was an increase in vapour pressure and decrease in atmospheric humidity in urban areas suggesting intensified urban drying island (UDI) effects. Rapid urban expansion has aggravated UDI effect in recent years, particularly during the hot, wet summer but mild during the cold, and dry winter. In future climate, the impacts of the UDI effect in the region may be enormous considering the increasing rate of urbanization in the region. To achieve a sustainable future, city planners and policymakers should consider the UDI effect by promoting developments that increase green land cover. Overall, this study provides a detailed understanding of the urban ecosystem's environmental change, which is helpful for local climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Land and associated resources are crucial factors of agricultural production; hence, continuous petroleum exploitation activities cause an imbalance in the ecosystem and subsequently on agriculture. Against this background, this study examines the effects of petroleum exploitation on spatial pattern of agricultural production in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. The primary source is a sample of 320 farmers chosen at random from two settlements selected from and outside Abura (OML 65) oil producing field. The questionnaire covered social and demographic characteristics of farmers and effects of petroleum exploitation on distance to farms, number, sizes of farms and output. Descriptive statistics and the pair-wise Student‟s t-test were used to analysed data collected for the study. The study reveals that petroleum exploitation resulted in increased distance to farms, reduced farm number and sizes and decreased agricultural output. There were significant differences in distance to farms (t= 1.000, df=9, p<0.05), farm sizes (t =1.000, df=9; p<0.05) and agricultural output (t=0.578, df=9, p<0.05) of the two settlements selected from and outside oil producing field. Impact evaluation of petroleum exploitation activities is recommended for sustainable development of agriculture in the study area.
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