Global Warming and Accessing Drinking Water in Nigeria

Water is one of the most important natural resources in the country. Water's role becomes increasingly significant as the population's food needs increase. Water is one of the most vital resources for human life and agricultural productivity. An estimated 66% of Nigerians are expected to have clean drinking water, while 34%, or 75 million people do not have better access to drinking water. Climate change is causing ocean surges, rising sea levels, and flooding in the coastal lowlands. This leads to a mixture of waste from open waste sites being carried down river systems, together with pollutants from waste disposal and urbanization. Because of this, nutrients are deposited in surface water and get mineralized, which eventually causes advection, absorption, and dissolution that allows them to seep into shallow aquifers. Usually, it takes a few days to many weeks for groundwater to replenish itself after flooding. This permits the occurrence of biogeochemical processes, which may result in metal and ion concentrations that could degrade the quality of groundwater. This review looks at how Nigeria's availability of drinking water is affected by global warming.