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Integrated Global Change Research in West Africa: Flood Vulnerability Studies

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Global Sustainability

Abstract

The pressures of global environmental change have contributed to increasing flood events in the West African region in recent years. Since 2007, populations in major West African cities have had to contend with the impacts of floods arising from heavier rainfall and changes in the seasonal rainfall patterns. These and associated environmental stresses, such as water pollution and rising water tables, are major threats to human security, livelihoods, and health. Natural scientists have described climate change as the dominant environmental risk confronting the world in the twenty first century, requiring an urgent response in the form of mitigation and adaptation measures. Nonetheless, without social science analysis, natural science’s projection of increasing frequency of extreme weather events leaves critical questions unanswered for planners and decision-makers seeking to manage the associated threats. This article uses the severe flood event of August 2011 in Ibadan, Nigeria, the largest traditional city in sub-Saharan Africa, as a case study. The study examines social flood vulnerability and flood risk perception, and highlights the importance of social science analysis in addressing global change issues.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Note that one respondent per household was interviewed so that 300 households in this study are equivalent to 300 respondents.

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  1. Department of Geography, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Ibidun Adelekan

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  1. Department of Geography, University of Jena, Jena, Germany

    Benno Werlen

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Adelekan, I. (2015). Integrated Global Change Research in West Africa: Flood Vulnerability Studies. In: Werlen, B. (eds) Global Sustainability. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16477-9_9

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