![]() ![]() The study of land use and climate dynamics is critical for proper planning, management, and utilization of natural resources. Therefore, scientific evidences are required to understand the nature of climate and land use change dynamics in the Rift Valley Lake basin. These disagreements within the scientific community result in difficulties for decision makers and planners. ![]() However, a few scholars disagree on the reduction of rainfall over the last 50 years (Ayenew, 2004a Gebrechorkos et al., 2019). ![]() Moreover, the decreasing in rainfall has been investigated in the study area (Kassie et al., 2014 Matewos & Tefera, 2020). Gisbert ( 2010) investigated that most researchers understand that water resources have been diminished due to reduction of rainfall over the Rift Valley. Several studies have been conducted to analyze the impact of climate change on water resources in the Rift Valley Lake basin (Alemayehu et al., 2006 Legesse & Ayenew, 2006 Awulachew et al., 2007 Van Halsema et al., 2011 Jansen et al., 2007). As a result, farmers have recently intensified agriculture as a response to the pressure from food-deficit resulting from low yields (Garedew et al., 2009 Malmberg & Tegenu, 2007). However, this low yield traditional cereal mono-cropping system did not fulfil the food demand of a rapidly growing population after the 1980s. In Rift Valley Lake basin, the economy is depending on small-scale rainfed cultivation. In the past, recognition of the importance of the natural environment for human well-being has been less influential in maintaining sustainable development and poverty alleviation strategies (Jane et al., 2014 Vira, 2015). The earth’s terrestrial surface and climate have been changed considerably over the past decades because of urbanization, deforestation, and agricultural expansion (Luyssaert et al., 2014 Winkler et al., 2021). Rapid population growth, agricultural expansion policy, and climate variability have been identified as the underlying drivers of land use dynamics. However, a significant increasing trend has been observed for temperature. In the last four decades, rainfall shows a not significant decreasing trend. An abrupt shift of climate has occurred in the 1980s. The land use dynamics have been stronger in the first decade of the study period. The results show that, from 1989 to 2019, the areal percentage of agricultural land increased by 27.5%, settlement by 0.8%, and barren land 0.4% while the natural vegetation, wetland, water body, and grass land decreased by 24.5%, 1.6%, 0.5%, and 2.1%, respectively. Likewise, shifts in the climate data were analyzed using change point analysis and three homogenous climate zones have been identified using principal component analysis. The spatio-temporal land use dynamics have been evaluated using transition matrix and dynamics index. In addition, population census data and land use policy have been considered to assess the potential drivers of land use change. To this end, Landsat images and historical climate data have been used to determine the dynamics. Thus, in this study, we present the spatio-temporal dynamics of land use change and climate aiming to provide a scientific evidence about gains and losses in major land use categories and associated drivers and significancy and homogeneity of climate change. Land use and climate dynamics have a pronounced impact on water resources, biodiversity, land degradation, and productivity at all scales. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |