SOURCE:

Faculty: Environmental Sciences
Department: Geography And Meteorology

CONTRIBUTORS:

Origho, T.
Ijioma, M. A.
Enete, C. I.

ABSTRACT:

Land ambiet surface temperature is gradually rising in all cities in the world due to increasing levels of land use change and conversion especially in urban centres. Since 1991 when Delta State was created, Warri has undergone tremendous transformation in its land use and land cover due to rapid urbanization. Thus, Urban Heat Island (UHI) has become one of the greatest problems associated with urban growth and industrialization in the area. As a result, increased temperature associated with UHI has exacerbated threats to human existence. It is on this basis that this research examine the characteristics of urban heat island in Warri metropolis, Delta State, Nigeria. The objective therefore is to investigate the emergence of urban heat island in Warri by examining meteorological records of diurnal temperature ranges and the impact of urban heat on socio-economic activities. The study adopted empirical and exposit facto research survey through the use of integrated remote sensing and geographic information system to identify landuse/landcover types in Warri metropolis, including their temporal transformation and association with surface temperatures from the landsat TM and landsat ETM imageries of 1987, 2001, 2009 and 2011 respectively. The study discovered that as the built-up area increased in size, so was the surface temperature, bare surface, cultivated land and water bodies, while natural vegetation decreased in area extent. These changes were responsible for the rise in mean surface temperature from 1987 to 2011, indicating a 3.30c temperature increase. The study revealed a direct relationship between the changing pattern among the various landuse/landcover types and the variations in the surface temperatures of these landuse/landcover types within the period of study. Thus, if the rate of decline in vegetation cover is not checked, Warri metropolis may witness continuous increases in its radiant surface temperature as the cooling effect of vegetation cover is lost to impervious surfaces that litter the urban landscape. Therefore, tree planting should be encouraged in the area coupled with population control through the development of satellite towns in the suburbs to absorb the excess population in order to curb the effect of urban heat island on the environment and health of the people.