Lagos, March 26, 2019 (NAN) Prof. Clement Akoshile, President, Nigerian Meteorological Society (NMetS), has called for less bush burning and the burning of fossil fuels and others to contain the concentrations of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Akoshile told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos, Southwest of Nigeria that the concentrations of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere had contributed to the trapping of extra heat, and caused the Earth’s temperature to rise.
He said that the temperature would have been higher if not that Nigeria was lucky to be located near the Equator, which gives it nearly 12 hours of day and night time round the year.
« Our actions on the environment are responsible for the various vagaries in weather conditions.
« There should be determined efforts to curtail bush burning which is practiced in almost every part of the country.
« Bush burning sends hydrocarbons into the atmosphere which form greenhouse gases making it difficult for the radiation of the Sun to get to the earth surface.
« If there are too much hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, these contribute to the warming of the earth leading to severe cold or heat and sometimes long dry and rainy seasons, » he told NAN.
Akoshile said that the cutting down of trees and shrubs which struggle to grow after each year of bush burning should be discouraged because earth warming also affected the ocean and the moisture that came from it.
According to him, the rain becomes more when the ocean moisture was more, while it rain less when the ocean moisture was less.
The NMetS president said that as the warming increased in Nigeria, the ground would be hardened and cracked given room to desert encroachment that would advance further to the South.
Akoshile called for animal grazing to be concentrated in their geographical localities to enable proper planning in terms of water and vegetation.
He added that animals should not be grazed everywhere because destroying farmlands would be a great threat to food security. (NAN)
