Potential impacts of afforestation on climate change and extreme events in Nigeria

Afforestation is usually thought as a good approach to mitigate impacts of warming over a region. This study presents an argument that afforestation may have bigger impacts than originally thought by previous studies. The study investigates the impacts of afforestation on future climate and extreme events in Nigeria, using a regional climate model (RegCM3), forced with global climate model simulations. The impacts of seven afforestation options on the near future (2031–2050, under A1B scenario) climate and the extreme events are investigated. RegCM3 replicates essential features in the present-day (1981–2000) climate and the associated extreme events, and adequately simulates the seasonal variations over the ecological zones in the country. However, the model simulates the seasonal climate better over the northern ecological zones than over the southern ecological zones. The simulated spatial distribution of the extreme events agrees well with the observation, though the magnitude of the simulated events is smaller than the observed. The study shows that afforestation in Nigeria could have both positive and negative future impacts on the climate change and extreme events in the country. While afforestation reduces the projected global warming and enhances rainfall over the afforested area (and over coastal zones), it enhances the warming and reduces the rainfall over the north-eastern part of the country. In addition, the afforestation induces more frequent occurrence of extreme rainfall events (flooding) over the coastal region and more frequent occurrence of heat waves and droughts over the semi-arid region. The positive and negative impacts of the afforestation are not limited to Nigeria; they extend to the neighboring countries. While afforestation lowers the warming and enhances rainfall over Benin Republic, it increases the warming and lowers the rainfall over Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The result of the study has important implication for the ongoing climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts in Nigeria.     

Inelastic seismic demand estimation of wood-frame houses subjected to mainshock-aftershock sequences

An active aftershock sequence, triggered by a large mainshock, can cause major destruction to urban cities. It is important to quantify the aftershock effects in terms of nonlinear responses of realistic structural models. For this purpose, this study investigates the aftershock effects on seismic fragility of conventional wood-frame houses in south-western British Columbia, Canada, using an extensive set of real mainshock-aftershock earthquake records. For inelastic seismic demand estimation, cloud analysis and incremental dynamic analysis are considered. A series of nonlinear dynamic analyses are carried out by considering different seismic input cases and different analysis approaches. The analysis results indicate that consideration of aftershocks leads to 5–20 % increase of the median inelastic seismic demand curves when a moderate degree of structural response is induced. The findings of this investigation facilitate the extension of the existing approaches for inelastic seismic demand estimation to incorporate the aftershock effects.     

Geomagnetic evaluation of hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Nigerian sector of the Chad Basin

The interpretation of the geomagnetic data covering the Nigerian Sector of the hydrocarbon elusive Chad Basin has been carried out with the aim of evaluating its hydrocarbon prospectivity. The geomagnetic data was subjected to transformation and enhancement techniques such as reduction to the equator, band-pass filtering, analytic signal, pseudogravity, Source Parameter Imaging (SPI), and Euler deconvolution (ED). The 2-D forward modeling was done using the GM-SYS? software. The results revealed two subbasins, separated by basement high, where the thickness of sedimentary succession of source rocks, reservoirs, and seals attained about 5 km. Two sets of laterally persistent NE-SW and NW-SE fracture systems capable of forming migratory routes were identified within the study area. Euler solutions show basement fractures that propagate through the sedimentary column at 1000 to 5000 m. Characteristic alternation of positive and negative pseudogravity anomalies exposed basement configuration to be of horst and graben architecture. Constructed models revealed drape anticlines that could act as structural traps in the event of hydrocarbon generation. Analytic signal anomalies indicative of igneous intrusive were mapped within the subbasins. This study concluded that elements that favour hydrocarbon occurrence are present in the Chad Basin and was therefore considered to be of high hydrocarbon prospectivity provided the occurrence and timing of the igneous intrusions had not adversely affected hydrocarbon accumulation.     

Identifying vulnerable areas of aquifer under future climate change (case study: Hamadan aquifer,West Iran)

Groundwater is the main source of water in arid and semi-arid regions, so it is very important to recognize vulnerable parts of aquifer under future climate change conditions. In this research, 16 climate models were evaluated based on weighting approach. HADCM3 and CGCM2.3.2a models were selected for temperature and precipitation prediction, respectively. LARS-WG was used for downscaling AOGCMs outputs. Results show that temperature increase by 1.4 °C and precipitation changes between +10 and ?6 % under B1 and A2 emission scenario, respectively. Runoff volumes will decrease by ?39 % under A2 emission scenario whereas runoff volume will increase by +12 % under B1 emission scenario. Simulation of groundwater head variation by MODFLOW software indicates higher groundwater depletion rate under A2 scenario compared to B1 scenario. Groundwater model outputs indicate that the most vulnerable part of the aquifer is located in the southwest region. Large number of extraction wells and low aquifer transmissivity are the reasons for high vulnerability of the region.     

Petrography,geochemistry, and U–Pb geochronology of pegmatites and aplites associated with the Alvand intrusive complex in the Hamedan region,Sanandaj–Sirjan zone,Zagros orogen (Iran)

International Journal of Earth Sciences - The Alvand intrusive complex in the Hamedan area in Iran is in the Sanandaj–Sirjan zone of the Zagros orogen. It consists of a wide range of plutonic...     

Modeling the impacts of reforestation on future climate in West Africa

This study investigates the potential impacts of reforestation in West Africa on the projected regional climate in the near two decades (2031–2050) under the SRES A1B scenario. A regional climate model (RegCM3) forced with a global circulation model (ECHAM5) simulations was used for the study. The study evaluates the capability of the regional model in simulating the present-day climate over West Africa, projects the future climate over the region and investigates impacts of seven hypothetical reforestation options on the projected future climate. Three of these reforestation options assume zonal reforestation over West Africa (i.e., over the Sahel, Savanna and Guinea), while the other four assume random reforestation over Nigeria. With the elevated GHGs (A1B scenario), a warmer and drier climate is projected over West Africa in 2031–2050. The maximum warming (+2.5°C) and drying (?2?mm?day^?1) occur in the western part of the Sahel because the West Africa Monsoon (WAM) flow is stronger and deflects the cool moist air more eastward, thereby lowering the warming and drying in the eastern part. In the simulations, reforestation reduces the projected warming and drying over the reforested zones but increases them outside the zones because it influences the northward progression of WAM in summer. It reduces the speed of the flow by weakening the temperature gradient that drives the flow and by increasing the surface drag on the flow over the reforested zone. Hence, in summer, the reforestation delays the onset of monsoon flow in transporting cool moist air over the area located downwind of the reforested zone, consequently enhancing the projected warming and drying over the area. The impact of reforesting Nigeria is not limited to the country; while it lowers the warming over part of the country (and over Togo), it increases the warming over Chad and Cameroon. This study, therefore, suggests that using reforestation to mitigate the projected future climate change in West Africa could have both positive and negative impacts on the regional climate, reducing temperature in some places and increasing it in others. Hence, reforestation in West Africa requires a mutual agreement among the West African nations because the impacts of reforestation do not recognize political boundaries.