Potential impacts of climate change and variability on groundwater resources in Nigeria

Abstract

Climate change observed over the past decades has been consistently associated with modifications of components of the hydrological systems such as precipitation patterns, sea surface temperature, accelerated melting of glacier and ice caps, soil temperature and moisture, surface runoff and stream flow. Such changes are known to influence subsurface hydrological systems, which could lead to changes in groundwater recharge, discharge and storage of many aquifers. Although, there are uncertainties in the characterisation of climate change induced groundwater impacts due to largely multi-scale local and regional heterogeneity, there is need to evaluate groundwater resources, quality and vulnerability to climate change and variability. This paper attempts to assess the potential impacts of climate change and variability on groundwater resources availability and sustainability in Nigeria.

Key words: Climate change, variability, hydrological systems, groundwater, potential impacts, vulnerability.