It added that with accelerated sea level rise of 1.0 meters, 75 per cent of the Niger Delta will be gone under water.
The Minister of Environment, Laurentia Mallam, alerted the coastline residents to the looming danger at this year’s World Environment Day, with the theme: Raise Your Voice Not the Sea Level.
The minister said cities, such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Warri, which are located along the coast, are vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surge. She said: “Nigeria is endowed with low–lying coastline of about 853 kilometres long. This coastline is very important to the economy of the country. Its accounts for most of the country’s industrial establishments and energy infrastructure, while major settlements, such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri are located along the coast and, therefore, sensitive to sea level rise and storm surge.
“Studies have projected that with an accelerated sea level rise of 0.5 meters, 35 per cent of the Niger Delta landmass will be lost, and with accelerated sea level rise of 1.0 meters, 75 per cent of the Niger Delta will be gone under water.
“Given this scenario, it implies that nearly 32 million people (22.6 per cent of the national population) who live along the coastal zone are at risk of becoming environmental refugees. Such forced movement could result in social frictions arising from demands of land resources for economic activities by the refugees.
“Moreover, many fishing grounds will be adversely affected, thus threatening major livelihood of the rural dwellers along the Nigerian coast. This is because the mangrove swamps provide breeding grounds and refuge for many fish species.
The intrusion of saline water due to sea level rise will have an undesirable consequence on fresh water resources of the affected areas.”
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