Prof. Clement Akosile, the President of Nigerian Meterological Society (NMetS), says the copious rainfall so far recorded across the country will boost agricultural yield this year.
He said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday.
He said that as of now, there was nothing significantly different from the usual that could negatively affect agricultural yield.
“The rains arrived around May and then increased toward the end of June and took some two weeks break, in what we refer to now as ‘the July Break’.
“We expect the rains to start coming continuously by September to October.
“Except if there are some disasters or modifications in the rate that are unprecedented that there will be changes in the outcome of agricultural yields,’’ he said.
Akosile said that the effect of climate change on the rainfall patterns was calculated over several years and not just in one or two years.
He said that the flooding caused by torrential rainfall in some parts of the country was as a result of changes in the landscapes and not direct consequences of climate change.
“As land structure is being modified for water passage, so water will be looking for its own way,’’ he said
Besides, Akosile said that as people and governments were retrieving land from seas and oceans, especially in the coastal areas, the sea would surge and push inwards, thereby causing flooding.
He said that lands and forests were being altered to build roads and solid structures without making pragmatic efforts to maintain the balance in nature for water passage.
Akosile said that as the disruption continued unabated, even small rainfall would cause flooding and sack people from their houses, while carrying their belongings away. (NAN)
