An Assessment of the evidence of Climate change in Bauchi, Nigeria

The study aimed at identifying the evidences of climate change in Bauchi. The emphasis was to find out if there are changes on the temperature and rainfall over time; to what extent these changes occur and likely impact these changes will have in Bauchi. The study was done in Bauchi town, Bauchi state of northeastern Nigeria. Elements of climate such as temperature and rainfall of the study area for a period of thirty (30) years between 1978 and 2008 were collected and analyzed using statistical method of Time Series Analysis. Findings from the study showed that rainfall in Bauchi was increasing by 0.2mm per annum. The findings also showed that temperature was increasing by 0.0299⁰c per annum. This implies that Bauchi may be vulnerable to flooding and ecosystem change. And having a detrimental effect on agricultural produce thereby leading to food scarcity in the town. The annual increase in temperature by 0.0299⁰c and rainfall by 0.2mm indicate that Climate Change is real in Bauchi.

Keywords
climate change; Bauchi; food scarcity; Time Series Analysis; temperature and rainfall