Public perception of climate change and its impact on health and environment in rural southwestern Nigeria

• Main Authors: Asekun-Olarinmoye EO, Bamidele JO, Odu OO, Olugbenga-Bello AI, Abodurin OL, Adebimpe WO, Oladele EA, Adeomi AA, Adeoye OA, Ojofeitimi EO
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2014
• Subjects: Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic; Esther; Bello; Climate change
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/508b082321284978b3a4d5e9b1306a33

Esther O Asekun-Olarinmoye,1 James O Bamidele,2 Olusola O Odu,2, Adenike I Olugbenga-Bello,3 Olugbenga L Abodurin,3 Wasiu O Adebimpe,1 Edward A Oladele,4 Adeleye A Adeomi,3 Oluwatosin A Adeoye,3 Ebenezer O Ojofeitimi31Department of Community Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria; 2Department of Community Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria; 3Department of Community Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Faculty of Clinical Science, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, Nigeria; 4SIDHAS Project, Family Health International, Abuja, NigeriaBackground: Climate change (CC) has received extensive media attention recently, and it is currently on the international public health agenda. A study of knowledge and attitudes to climate change, most especially from rural Nigerian communities, is important for developing adaptation strategies. This is a study of public perceptions of CC and its impact on health and environment in rural southwestern Nigeria.Methods: This was a community-based descriptive cross-sectional study of 1,019 rural respondents using a multistage sampling method. The research instrument used was a pretested, structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. χ2, Cramér's V, and Kendall's τ-c statistics were employed in addition to fitting the data to a logistic regression model to explore associations found significant on bivariate analysis.Results: Mean age of respondents was 36.9 (±12.4) years. About 911 (89.4%) of respondents opined that there has been a change in climate in the last 10 years. Supernatural reasons were prominent among respondent-reported causes of CC. Identified risky behavior contributing to CC included smoking (10.7%), bush burning (33.4%), and tree felling (41.0%). Poor knowledge of causes but good knowledge of effects of CC were found in this study. About two-thirds of respondents had a positive attitude to causes of CC, while half had a ...