RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SEASONAL RAINFALL OVER NIGERIA NORTH OF LATITUDE 100N ' AND SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE

Abstract

The rainfall distribution over this area as other areas of Nigeria is very important. as most of the agricultural crops are rain fed and therefore depend mostly on rainfall. Where irrigation is practiced, it is not only expensive but only possible where dams are available or if the farmers live along the river banks. But both the dams and rivers depend on the amount of rain water collected. We can therefore understand the importance of rainfall distribution over a place with high evapotranspiration rate, where majority of the population are predominantly farmers. The 1972 -73 drought which affected most parts of Nigeria especially the northern parts and the subsequent drought episodes had a devastating effect on food production and water supply both for human consumption and industrial use. There were widespread food shortages and livestock perished in their thousands. A few human lives were also lost, though not directly but due to malnutrition. There were therefore massive movement of the rural population to the urban areas and with no jobs and adequate accommodation, the government was confronted with the problems of crime and slums. To solve the water shortage problem the government embarked on building dams. The emphasis was on collecting as much water as possible for agricultural and industrial use. This continued until in 1988, when the Bagauda dam collapsed destroying farm lands, killing livestock and some human lives were also lost. Since then there have been occasional reports of this and other dams overflowing their banks causing a lot of damage. The floods experienced in Jigawa, Adamawa and Kano states in September 2001 claimed some lives and rendered many people homeless and properties worth millions of Naira were destroyed. One month after the devastating flood, the majority of people camped in primary school buildings could not be vacated for the students to resume their studies. It is to avoid .such disaster that this investigating was carried out to see whether there is a relationship between SST and seasonal rainfall with the view of formulating a predictive scheme in future. The results show that although the area generally had one rainfall peak there are years that we have double peaks. The seasonal rainfall showed wide variation from year to year and there are prospects of predicting it fairty accuratelyusi~g SST.