Environmental Quality of Enugu, Nigeria As Impacted by the Primary Air Pollutants in the Area (Published)
Air pollution activities have increased over the years in urban areas of most developing countries like Nigeria. The same has been experienced in Enugu metropolis. This study therefore examined how environmental quality of Enugu metropolis has been impacted by the polluted air in the environment. The metropolis was classified into different neigbourhoods and then stratified into low, medium and high density areas. Samples were randomly collected from these neighborhoods. In determining the residential environmental quality of the area factor analysis (principal component analysis was used to reduce the various environmental quality variables into single factor known as “Y” variable. This served as dependent variable. Primary air pollutants; particular matter, Nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide constituted the independent variables as x1, x2, x3 and x4 respectively. Using multiple regression model a relationship between the dependent and independent variable was established. The coefficient of determination in the result showed that adjusted r2=.917, indicating that 91.7% variation in the residential environmental quality could be predicted from air pollution. Health challenges of reduced oxygen carrying capacity of blood, chronic bronchitis and worsening respiratory illnesses were identified as some of the effects. Also identified, are acidification of soils, staining of fabrics among others on the environment. Making petroleum products like kerosene available and affordable to all by the federal government of Nigeria, among others have been recommended.
Keywords: Enugu, Environment, Impact, Nigeria, Quality