Climatic Anomaly and Spatio-temporal Migratory Footprints on the Coastal Corridors of Nigeria

The 853 kilometers coastline of Nigeria, from Calabar to Lagos, has been of immense resource value to the national and international economy. It is suspected that fluctuations in climatic conditions have affected and misconfigured the coastal landscape, and adversely affected the resource value, including the marine and sub-terrestrial ecosystem. The study investigated the effect and extent of climatic anomaly on the land use and land cover dynamics of the region. It examined the various natural and anthropogenic impressions arising from climatic changes, and fluctuation and consequences on coastal features and resources over the years, from 1986 to 2018, when the intensity of climatic anomaly became critical. It is suspected that the anomalous condition has impacted on the loss of status and condition of the coastal ecosystem, which are threatened in a climate crises regime. High resolution Landsat 5 TM of 1986, Landsat 7 ETM+ of 2000, and Landsat 7 ETM+ of 2018 were analyzed to determine the extent, nature and dynamics of the footprints, and its consequences. Climatic data (rainfall and temperature) of corresponding period were analyzed to check if relationships exist between the meteorological indices and outcome of the imageries. It was discovered that over time the coastline zone has varied and may continue to vary in the feature with deleterious consequences. The results showed positive relationship and intensity between the footprints and variations in meteorological values, whereby extensive variations in climatic indices implied extensive adverse footprints, with diminution of valuable resources. The result indicates the nature, damage and loss of coastal resources, and imminent severe impact on the national economy arising from the climatic anomaly.