THE DILEMA OF OZONE LAYER DEPLETION, GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN TROPICAL COUNTRIES: A REVIEW

Scientists and Geographers (especially climatologists) have provided scientific and meteorological evidence of the patterns of change in the climatic conditions of the world with the resultant conclusion that global warming is rapidly occurring and the on-going global warming is anthropogenic in nature because people continue to excessively burn fossil fuel as Oil and Gas; Coal and fuel wood. Man has also engaged in excessive felling of trees for commercial lumbering and there is also the double-edged ozone connection which poses grave danger due to its fragile Geo-Chemistry. This paper seeks to identify how we got to this point of imminent catastrophe, how vulnerable Nigerians are, especially those that live in environmentally disadvantaged areas. The effects of this change on the socio-economic development of the people will also be explored while adaptation developmental practices that can be adopted in order to mitigate impending disaster will be proffered. The study made use of both primary and secondary data on the impact of climate change phenomena as well as relevant already published data on the nature and effect of climate change in Nigeria. The result reveal that climate change is real and has adverse effects on the Social, Economic and even Political Development of the Country and that women and the children as well as people living in the Coastal and Arid regions are more vulnerable to the change.