Human adjustment to the dry season weather of the sudano-sahelian environment: a case study of Maiduguri Metropolis

Abstract

The paper evaluated the climatic culture of the dry season in th sudano-sahelian environment and its deterministics influence on human physiologic comfort and health. The influence of the climatic vagaries on the performance of humans in this bioclimatic zone is also presented. Aa descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted in Maiduguri in January, 2002 to evaluate people’s response to weather in the city. The study used a multi-stage sampling technique to select and administer 1200 instrument of the survey to the eligible respondents in four wards of the city proportionately. The wards (proportions) are; Gwange (450), GRA (150), Mairi (300) and Bulunkuttu (300)

. The dry season in the sudano-sahelian environment presents two distinct thermal opposites. The harmattan season (October-March), which is cold and the hot (transitional) season (April-early June), which presents debilitating hot conditions. These two seasons have created two distinct climate cultures among the inhabitants of the area in response to the vagaries of the weather. It was found that humans have some ways of adjusting and overcoming the problems posed by the harsh dry season weather of the sudano-sahelian zone. The measures adopted during the cold harmattan include warm dressing, heating and mating. While the set of measures adopted during the cold harmattan include resting under trees in the late mornings and the afternoons, sleping outside in open spaces at night, wetting of beddings, floors and building walls and creating artificial micro weather through fanning and air conditioning. The weather vagaries mitigation measures are however, paradoxically associated with some and health problems like burglaries, theft, increased incidences of sexually transmitted diseases and burns. These affect both human and land productivity in this environmental effects. For example, heating and warming process in the home and outside have usually meant more exploitation of vegetal resources. This leads to, among other things, deforestation and soil erosion and also atmospheric pollution. This study therefore, recommends that the residents of the city should be educated on the danger and on how to avoid the adverse effects of some weather vegaries adjustment measures. Aalso, government should ensure the availability of anti-snake venom as part of the essetial drugs in the health centers. Security should also be tightened during the hot season to check thefts and burglaries