A Nexus between Carbon Emissions and Land Surface Temperature in the Six Ecological Zones of Nigeria

Abstract

The increase in the emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere has been identified as a driving cause of global climate change which is a threat to the normal functioning of human and natural systems. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between the emissions of CO₂ and land surface temperature (LST) in the six ecological zones of Nigeria. High resolution satellite imageries of land surface temperature and carbon were downloaded from the website of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) between January 2002 and December 2012 and were utilized for the study. The data were processed using Arc Map version 10.2. Values of the LST and carbon were exported for use in Microsoft Excel software where the relationships were established. The value of LST during the study period ranged between 22.07 °C and 27.24 °C, while the concentrations of CO₂ ranged between 381.6 ppm and 382.27 ppm. The study showed a positive relationship between LST and CO₂ with a coefficient of determination of 37.1%. Both LST and CO₂ increased during the study period. However, an inverse relationship was observed in the freshwater swamp forest (R² = 0.42) and mangrove forest (R² = 0.21). The study concluded that the emission of CO₂ and LST increased from the coast to the hinterland during the period of study. It is recommended that the felling of trees be discouraged in the various ecological zones to enhance carbon sequestration and thus reduce the adverse impacts of climate change.

Keywords: Carbon dioxide; Emission; Climate change; Surface temperature; Ecological zone