Climate change is one trivial issue, and learning about it made me worried about the world, not just my country. I feared it would be a complete disaster for the human race. Surprisingly, I saw some articles condemning climate change, saying it was just a mere theory.
It actually confused me, and I didn't know what to believe anymore. After reading more, I concluded that, whether some people believe climate change is real or not, a lot has changed about the climate. The weather is not predictable anymore. The unexpected keeps happening, and seasons are changing from what we used to know, from what we've experienced in the past.
I still remember very clearly in the early 2000s, people expected rain at a particular time of the year, and it would come. We knew when the dry season would come. Business owners, especially farmers, knew when to do their thing since they work with seasons.
Slowly, these changes happened. A typical example was excessive rainfall back in 2012, leading to a flood that claimed lots of lives and property in different parts of Nigeria. It was horrible and there was no reason to doubt the climate was really changing. If I am not mistaken, the flood case happened twice: first in July, when it rains at its peak, and again in September, which contradicts our weather patterns. We expect low rainfall in September, but the opposite happened.
We can say 2012 was a long time ago, and one event doesn't justify the claims, but that's not all. In the past few years, the (dry) harmattan season sometimes comes earlier than it should. There are times it stayed longer or even took a break when it should be on. We've seen rainfall do the same. The weather just gets cold unnecessarily when the rain refuses to pour. All of these things should really be a concern.
Widespread Impacts on Life
These changes aren't just happening for no reason and the effects on the human race aren't little. They impact us as individuals, the ecosystem, and our economy negatively. These changes affect our health, forcing us to spend excessively on medication. They have also deprived many people of their homes and nature is affected too.
We've seen videos of floods and wildfires killing animals, threatening their existence. Businesses aren't excluded. I have seen how unexpected rainfall has ruined the lives of many fish farmers out there and the economy takes the hit when lots of businesses can't function properly due to climate change.
Personal and Local Challenges
The effects of climate change on me have been the same for many Nigerians, but a little deeper in some aspects. Our roads are bad and that's a serious headache to move about Lagos, sitting in traffic since our roads are badly flooded.
I have a big family, and one of the illnesses we struggle with is colds, though I am kind of different. Whenever the weather gets too cold because of excessive rainfall or overstayed harmattan, I cough out money for medications all the time.
Lastly, unstable weather is a threat to business. I remember about two years ago, if I am not mistaken, when the rain just continued pouring for days. Although it wasn't heavy, putting all of that together was a lot of water on the ground. The fear of flood caused fish farmers who use the swamp to sell their fish unexpectedly to prevent the same loss that happened in 2012.
Due to the impromptu sales, buyers took advantage and crashed the market price. This automatically affected pond users who needed to sell at that time of the year. Selling is inevitable. You don't want to keep feeding the fish or can't continue because of funds. It's either you go with the market or incur losses when your fish lose weight.
A Call to Protect Our Home
I understand we are responsible for climate change due to our improper waste disposal, deforestation, and others. To keep the story short, I would love to encourage everyone to play their role in maintaining the ecosystem.
It's our only home. When it's destroyed, it's our problem. We can do things differently to prevent climate change from worsening, but I doubt we can go back to what we used to have in the past.
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