Global climate
change has negatively impacted the whole biodiversity. And the changes are
highly exacerbated by human pressures, mainly in coastal areas, within the high
urbanization, the industrialization, the over-exploitation of natural
resources. This study was undertaken mainly to 1) investigate temporal trends
in annual rainfall and temperature; 2) identify discontinuities in the time
series; and 3) assess the Land Use/Land Cover Change (LULC) in the Somone
coastal lagoon, within the river basin.
The study examined
temporal trends in rainfall (1931-2016) and temperature (1961-2016) datasets of
Somone river basin, and breaks in time series by using Mann-Kendall
non-parametric test and other suitable statistical tools. Temporal evolution in
LULC was assessed for the years 1954, 1978, 2003 and 2016. Analysis indicated a
significant decreasing trend in precipitation over the basin. These trends were
much more pronounced for minimum and average rainfall than for maximum and
annual amplitudes. Contrary to precipitation, surface air temperature showed a
significant increasing trend for its minimum and averages, and a decreasing
trend for its maximum and amplitudes. A significant break in precipitation was
observed in 1958, while surface air temperature presents much longer breaks
within the years 1975 and 1977, and 1991 and 1993. A more direct implication of
climate change on LULC patterns was increased in unproductive salt pans
(Sabkhas). Increase in Sabkhas gave rise to conversion of forest lands to
agricultural lands of local farmers in search for fertile soils to cater for
the food needs of a growing population. Otherwise, the development of the
settlements, favored by the tourism activity and agriculture crisis, was
another cause of croplands decreasing.
In conclusion, the
findings of the present research clearly indicated that the impacts of climate
change were exacerbated by rapid urbanization in the basin. And this study can
be considered as a managing tool for policymakers and referential study for
researchers about human and climate pressures analysis on a coastal lagoon in
Sahelian country.
Article by Ndeye
Yacine Barry, et al, from Côte d’Ivoire and Sénégal.
Full access: http://mrw.so/jTGUz
评论
发表评论