The Urban Heat Islands (UHI) effect is a microclimatic phenomenon that especially affects urban areas. It is associated with significant temperature increases in the local microclimate, and may amplify heat waves. Due to their intensity, UHI causes not only thermal discomfort, but also reductions in the levels of life quality. This paper reviews the important role of green infrastructure as a means through which the intensity of UHI may be reduced, along with their negative impact on human comfort and wellbeing. Apart from a comprehensive review of the available literature, the paper reports on an analysis of case studies in a set of 14 cities in 13 countries representing various geographical regions and climate zones. The results obtained suggest that whereas UHI is a common phenomenon, green infrastructure in urban areas may under some conditions ameliorate their impacts. In addition, the study revealed that the scope and impacts of UHI are not uniform: depending on peculiarities of urban morphologies, they pose different challenges linked to the microclimate peculiar to each city. The implications of this paper are threefold. Firstly, it reiterates the complex interrelations of UHIs, heat waves and climate change. Secondly, it outlines the fact that keeping and increasing urban green resources leads to additional various benefits that may directly or indirectly reduce the impacts of UHI. Finally, the paper reiterates the need for city planners to pay more attention to possible UHI effects when initiating new building projects or when adjusting current ones.

In this study, the hourly air temperature differences between City hall (urban) and Okoafo (rural) in Lagos, Nigeria, were calculated using one year of meteorological observations, from June 2014 to May 2015. The two sites considered for this work were carefully selected to represent their climate zones. The city core, City hall, is within the Local Climate Zone (LCZ 2) (Compact midrise) while the rural location, Okoafo, falls within LCZ B (Scattered Trees) in the south-western part on the outskirt of the city. This study is one of very few to investigate urban temperature conditions in Lagos, the largest city in Africa and one of the most rapidly urbanizing megacities in the world; findings show that maximum nocturnal UHI magnitudes in Lagos can exceed 7 °C during the dry season, and during the rainy season, wet soils in the rural environment supersede regional wind speed as the dominant control over UHI magnitude.

Climate change has remained a major problem around which global development policies are framed. The effects of climate change are rising tremendously and are more evident in Africa with low adaptive capacity to the impacts of climate change and where climate change has led to drought and desertification with consequences for safety and security in the region. Although the connection between climate change and conflicts is well studied, there is little research on the geopolitical contribution of climate change to conflicts. Using a dominant qualitative approach based on secondary data and eco-violence theory, this study examines how geopolitics affects climate change-induced conflicts and displacement in West Africa. Drawing largely from Nigeria and Mali, the study argues that, despite the destructive effects of anthropogenic activities created by insufficient competing areas for livelihood and subsistence resources, the implementation of climate resolution among countries and regions of the world has remained obscure. The repercussions of the geopolitics of climate change are the insurgencies and cattle herders’ unrest in Africa, especially the West African region.

The impact of gas flaring on the sustainable development was examined. The presence crude oil and natural gas is expected to serve as socioeconomic driver of accelerated sustainable development of an area but the situation of oil producing areas of Nigeria is a far cry from the expected. Data was collected from eight (8) experimental sites around the gas flaring station including Obiaruku (control site), which has no gas-flaring station. Temperature and concentrations of air quality indices were determined. The temperature and air quality measurements in Ebedei were made, at least, 50 meters away from the bund wall of the flare. The data were analysed using the Multiple Regression and bivariate correlation. Results revealed that there is a significant relationship between ambient temperature and the gases (CO, NO 2 , SO 4 and CH 4) flared in Ebedei at F value of 20.069 which is greater than the critical value of 9.12. An increase in flared gases results to a corresponding increase in temperature. Strong negative relationship exists between distance from the bund wall of the flare and temperature at r=0.855. Recommendations: (FEPA) should constantly monitor and evaluate the level of damages done by gas flaring to ensure compliance and sustainability of the environment.

This study assessed the changes in land cover in Kurmi LGA of Taraba state, Nigeria using remote sensing and the Geographic Information System. Landsat imageries of Kurmi LGA for 1999, 2009 and 2019 were acquired to investigate the drivers to these changes and their impact on the natural resources in the area. The geospatial approach was complemented by focus-group discussion, key informant interviews, and semi-structured interviews covering 692 households. The GIS-based analysis of remotely sensed data revealed only two categories of landcover changes; the built-up areas and vegetation cover. Built-up area was 3% (13,059 ha) and vegetation cover was 97% (422,241 ha) in 1999, the built-up area rose to 23.93 % and vegetation cover reduced to 76.07 (331,132.71 ha) in 2009, the built-up area further rose to 47.71% (207,681 ha) and vegetation cover reduced to 52.29% (227,618.27 ha) in 2019. While the built-up area grew dramatically, vegetation cover shrank dramatically. The findings indicate that the community is aware of the land use and land cover dynamics and validated the observed changes. Timber and firewood collection, lumbering, logging, charcoal production, population growth, and poverty were identified as the key drivers of observed landcover changes. The changes exposed rural households to extreme events such as climate change, winds storms, soil erosion, food shortage, thereby posing a big threat to the sustainable management of natural resources. The study recommends massive afforestation programmes that go beyond yearly rituals, tree planting in public places, institutions, roadsides and rural afforestation programmes should be embarked upon.