Urban health, safety and environment (HSE)
O.P Agboola; S.D. Zakka; S.A. Olatunji
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There are indications that climate change and its consequences are already creating threats to the built environment in Nigeria. These environmental threats have negative implications for healthy, well-being, and urban sustainability. This empirical study aim to identify how ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There are indications that climate change and its consequences are already creating threats to the built environment in Nigeria. These environmental threats have negative implications for healthy, well-being, and urban sustainability. This empirical study aim to identify how climate change has influenced the built environment in Nigeria's South-Western region, considering the following objectives: to explore the reasons for climate change in South-western, Nigeria, to determine the consequences of environmental issues on inhabitant health in South-western, Nigeria; and to critically determine the key measures of climate change mitigation and adaptation to enhance the environmental sustainability of the Southwestern region of Nigeria.METHODS: An empirical quantitative method comprising 300 questionnaires survey was administered, and 235 were retrieved and used as a sample population for the research analysis. The distribution of questionnaires was based on the convenience sampling methods among professionals within the built environment. The internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha (α), and the analysis was performed using the Statistical Software program; SPSS for Windows, version 22.FINDINGS: The results from descriptive analysis revealed that Land-degradation, biodiversity loss, pollution, deforestation, urbanization, health challenges and population growth are predictors factors of climate change with mean scores of 4.2576, 4.2300, 4.0775, 4.0875, 4.1075, 3.8450 and 4.0925 respectively. Furthermore, the research showed a causal linkage relationship of climate change and the factors of land degradation, biodiversity, pollution and deforestation of (p<0.001). Generally, the results affirm that the predictors of climate change are attributed to the factors of land degradation, biodiversity loss, pollution, urbanization and deforestation in the region.CONCLUSION: The research gives an understanding about the impacts of climate change in the south west region, Nigeria and remains a veritable document to government and policy maker towards the prevention and mitigating measures on climate change impacts. The outcome of the research has revealed negative impacts of environmental issues on inhabitants’ health through air pollution, temperature related effects and mental related infectious diseases. The climate change mitigation and adaptations results agreed that greening the environment/green infrastructure, provision of stronger urban-rural connections and promulgation of law that discourages human activities impacts are few among the items recommended in mitigating and combating the impacts of climate change in South-western Nigeria.
Human capital in urban management
J.S. Dionysius; H.L. Vasudevan
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Energy is widely acknowledged as a critical aspect of economic development, and a country's ability to sustain economic growth depends on the security of its energy supply. Malaysia's persistent energy demand and diminishing local energy supplies have recently increased energy ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Energy is widely acknowledged as a critical aspect of economic development, and a country's ability to sustain economic growth depends on the security of its energy supply. Malaysia's persistent energy demand and diminishing local energy supplies have recently increased energy industry operators' and policymakers' concerns about the country's energy supply security. Finding economical energy options with secure production and a minimum environmental impact has long been the key goal for developing countries. For developing countries, energy security is a challenging task to meet rising energy demands in a long-term, environmentally sustainable manner. The study aims to examine the mediating effect of climate change on energy resources to achieve cost-saving sustainability and energy security in Sabah, Malaysia.METHODS: This study adopts quantitative research in which a public survey was conducted between April 28 and May 10, 2023, focusing on how Sabah's energy resources, including nuclear, fossil, and renewable fuels, relate to Sabah's cost-effective sustainability and energy security. In total, 100 questionnaires were distributed to different geographic or regional regions that are likely to differ from one another in terms of their beliefs or perceptions, educational backgrounds, income levels, and occupations. According to this study, the population of Sabah, Malaysia, will be 3.39 million in 2022. The sampling strategy used in the present research was non-probability convenience sampling. However, only 80 valid questionnaires were used as the sample size for this paper based on the Smart PLS sample size table. The response rate was 86.96%. A smaller sample was chosen in the study rather than a more thorough census due to the magnitude of the population.FINDINGS: The findings showed that protection motivation, theory consistency theory, and behavioral reasoning theory play important roles in planned behaviour when looking at practical, long-term solutions to the problems of cost-effective sustainability, energy security, and climate change as mediating factors. The results showed five (5) hypotheses have been accepted with p-value at 0.000 to 0.031. Unfortunately, there are twelve (12) hypotheses were not supported with p-value at 0.085 to 0. 0.563 due to most of Sabah’s people had a poor understanding of and lack of acceptance of the need for energy.CONCLUSION: The study empirically confirms and conceptually proves that policy on the conceptual framework of environmental literacy and pro-environmental behaviour should be adopted and reviews the country's existing energy policy, the renewable energy policy, and the legal framework in resolving renewable energy sources that are still underutilized, environmentally responsible, and have a great deal of potential to satisfy the energy needs of both established and emerging nations.
Urban health, safety and environment (HSE)
R. Oguntayo; S. F. Agberotimi; P. O. Ajao; O. T. Oladele; A. O. Olaseni; O. D. Ajibewa
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Environmental worry involve primarily the thoughts of some hazardous immediate and long-run side effects of degradation that happened to our ecological system. Despite the side effects of this phenomenon, psychometrics measuring environmental worry from the African context ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Environmental worry involve primarily the thoughts of some hazardous immediate and long-run side effects of degradation that happened to our ecological system. Despite the side effects of this phenomenon, psychometrics measuring environmental worry from the African context are insufficient. Therefore, the Environmental Worry Index (EWI-11) was developed to assess proximal and personal experiences of worry about climate change and environmental degradation. METHODS: This study used a qualitative method among environmental professionals and students (between the ages of 18 to 65) in a university to generate the themes and the pool of items that were used to determine the Environmental Worry Index (EWI-11). Thereafter, 925 participants were purposively selected and assessed from Ibadan city through a cross-sectional survey to ascertain the validity and reliability of this new scale. The participants were selected in Ibadan city, Nigeria. The software of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (Version 26.0) was used for all analyses.FINDINGS: Using exploratory factor analysis, the construct validity and Varimax rotation showed that the scale has two components (KMO = 0.892, df=91, p.00), thus showing a strong validity. The reliability dimensions and subscales have meritorious reliability (Proximal, α =.894, and Personal experience of worry, α =.671). The overall Cronbach’s Alpha was 0.894.CONCLUSION: The EWI-11 is adequate for measuring environmental worry and could be useful for experts in mental and environmental research and practice. EWI-11 is therefore recommended as a reliable and valid screening tool for environmental worry and may be acceptable across Africa and other countries as well.
Urban ecology and related environmental concerns
A. Bouba Oumarou; H.X. Li
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Global Warming is expected to induce grave effects around the world. It is predicted that many communities, mostly in the third world, experience numerous consequences because of climate change. Therefore, effective action is needed and universities play a huge role in addressing ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Global Warming is expected to induce grave effects around the world. It is predicted that many communities, mostly in the third world, experience numerous consequences because of climate change. Therefore, effective action is needed and universities play a huge role in addressing Global Warming issues and their impacts through research and innovations. Hence, assessing the extent to which African university students understand climate change and its impacts shows the extent of hope in mitigating the climate related risks. This Case study assesses how deep is the knowledge of young educated Africans on Global Warming causes and risks, how committed they are on fighting the issue and applying solutions.METHODS: A hypothesis testing and descriptive statistics models were employed to analyze a qualified data set collected through an online interview survey among young educated Africans taken from a sample of oversea students in Chinese state universities. After a consistency study, Out of 250 questionnaires received, 224 were useful data, and Cronbach’s alpha was 0.75. Participants were taken from 34 different African nationalities. All analyses were conducted using SPSS24.FINDINGS: The results have shown that 39% of the students are very familiar with the topic, and 33% consider it as a known issue and the participants mostly rely on social media to get information about Global Warming. Two hypotheses were tested at 95% level of confidence; the critical statistic was 41.3 against a 51.2 calculated chi square for H01: Young educated Africans don’t have significant knowledge on Global Warming causes. Similarly, a critical value of 36.4 was compared to a calculated chi-square of 40.6 for H02: Young educated Africans don’t have significant knowledge on Global Warming risks. Hence, both hypotheses were rejected. Consequently, it was deduced that young Africans students do have general knowledge on GW risks and causes, even if some deep aspects are still unclear for some. It was revealed that most of the students (81%) are ready to take actions against climate change, and some have even started to do so; besides, they mostly believe that the solutions should come from every human being at any age or background. Using these results, recommendations were given to different stakeholders. CONCLUSION: In Africa, where education about climate change is generally low, the findings in this study may provide all stakeholders with crucial information for better understanding of Global Warming risks and effective response plans. This study has shown that Young educated Africans report a general sense that global warming can negatively impact people’s lives, but relatively few are willing to personally get involved in the response. Therefore, there is need for practical climate change health and safety education leading to improve behaviors among the most remote communities.
Urban ecology and related environmental concerns
S.R. Chikabvumbwa; D. Sibale; S.W. Chisale
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:The use of traditional site selection methods for potential irrigation schemes is so common in Malawi. The overdependence of these methods has had significant consequences on the environment such as pollution, siltation, and land degradation and soil erosion. Traditional selection ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:The use of traditional site selection methods for potential irrigation schemes is so common in Malawi. The overdependence of these methods has had significant consequences on the environment such as pollution, siltation, and land degradation and soil erosion. Traditional selection of irrigation sites is a complex task which is time-consuming, costly and involves collection of a lot of data sets. However, advances in Geographic Information Systems present an opportunity to easily integrate complex systems involving a lot of data sets. The objective of this study was to identify potential areas for irrigation farming in Kasungu district in Malawi using hybrid spatial datasets. METHODS: Multi criteria decision analysis approach was used in Arc GIS 10.8 to analyze datasets such as slopes, rivers, land use, soil types, soil depths, water quality, water quantity and drainage patterns. A questionnaire was used to solicit expert views on factors to consider when siting feasible irrigation areas. FINDING: This study observed that the use of Geographic Information System in irrigation site selection is flexible and time efficient due to its ability of handling complex and huge volume of datasets. Moreover, the produced maps enhanced an easy understanding of the identified areas hence providing an aid to making right decisions in environmental management. The study found that in Kasungu district, 36.9% of the land is highly suitable, 20.7% is moderately suitable, 33.1% is lowly suitable and 9.3% is not suitable for irrigation. CONCLUSION:This paper provides good information on promoting the utilization of GIS to solve site selection problems in a bid to reduce soil erosion, pollution and improve land management. The study recommends the promotion of using GIS in government agencies for better decision-making in sustainable irrigation development. The scientific approach used in this study can also be extrapolated in the assessment and evaluation of water resources in Malawi.
C. Belford; D. Huang; E. Ceesay; Y.N. Ahmed; R.H. Jonga
Abstract
West Africa is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This paper analyzed the impacts of climate change on economic growth in Anglophone West Africa with similar background, during the periods 1969-2016. Five growth model equations have been developed to incorporate climate change variables into ...
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West Africa is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This paper analyzed the impacts of climate change on economic growth in Anglophone West Africa with similar background, during the periods 1969-2016. Five growth model equations have been developed to incorporate climate change variables into the model. Panel data estimations such as the fixed effect model, random effect model and Hausman test were used. The results generated show that four equations required the use of the fixed effect, the agriculture equation model required the use of the random effect model. In the fixed effect models, the results show that the growth of human capital has a negative (-0.08 and -0.23) and significant (0.09* and 0.023*) impact on the growth rate of the services and manufacturing sectors. In Anglophone West African countries, the growth rate of the agriculture sector and temperature are statistically significant (0.008 ** and 0.089*) and have a negative impact (-2.04 and -17.7) on the growth rate of GDP. In the random effect model for agriculture, the growth rate of rainfall has the highest impact on the growth of agriculture in Anglophone West Africa than the impact of temperature on the region. Lack of sufficient rainfall reduces the growth of the agriculture sector. In relative terms, change in rainfall pattern is more harmful to agriculture in comparison to the change in temperature in this region. The consequences of climate change in the region are sluggish economic performance and growth, underdevelopment, poverty, and human misery.
Urban ecology and related environmental concerns
A.B. Imran; S. Ahmed
Abstract
Forest ecosystems are among the largest terrestrial carbon reservoirs on our planet earth thus playing a vital role in global carbon cycle. Presently, remote sensing techniques provide proper estimates of forest biomass and quantify carbon stocks. The present study has explored Landsat-8 sensor product ...
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Forest ecosystems are among the largest terrestrial carbon reservoirs on our planet earth thus playing a vital role in global carbon cycle. Presently, remote sensing techniques provide proper estimates of forest biomass and quantify carbon stocks. The present study has explored Landsat-8 sensor product and evaluated its application in biomass mapping and estimation. The specific objectives were estimation of above ground biomass and carbon stocks using field data, assessing relationships of Landsat-8 spectral indices and field data and modeling of biomass and carbon stocks based on best linear regression model. Results showed that the highest aboveground biomass and below ground biomass was recorded as 246 t/ha and 64 t/ha whereas the lowest aboveground biomass and below ground biomass was 55 t/ha and 14 t/ha, respectively. Similarly, the highest above ground carbon and below ground carbon (t/ha) were 116 t/ha and 30 t/ha respectively while the lowest above ground carbon and below ground carbon (t/ha) were estimated as 26 t/ha and 6.7 t/ha respectively. Indices computed from Landsat-8 included normalized difference vegetation index, difference vegetation index, soil adjusted vegetation index, perpendicular vegetation index and atmospherically resistant vegetation index. Regarding relationship between aboveground biomass and vegetation indices, the coefficient of correlation (R2) were 0.67, 0.68, 0.65, 0.58 and 0.23 for normalized difference vegetation index, soil adjusted vegetation index, Perpendicular vegetation index, difference vegetation index and atmospherically resistant vegetation index respectively. The stepwise correlation between aboveground biomass (dependent variable) and five indices (Normalized difference vegetation index; soil adjusted vegetation index; Perpendicular vegetation index; difference vegetation index; atmospherically resistant vegetation index). Among five vegetation indices, only soil adjusted vegetation index was selected in stepwise method, satisfying the criteria and the overall model R2 was 0.63 and its adjusted R2 was 0.60. Simple linear regression model between aboveground biomass and single predictor index was better than stepwise regression model with (R2= 0.68) and (Root mean square error = 33.75 t/ha). Thus, soil adjusted vegetation index was considered best for biomass mapping. The study concluded that Landsat-8 product has considerable potential for biomass and carbon stocks estimation and can be expanded to national and regional forest inventories, modeling and future reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation+ implementation.