Physical Environment

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In today’s class, we will be talking about the physical environment. Enjoy the class!

Physical Environment

Meaning of environment

Generally, an environment simply refers to everything within our surroundings. A natural environment means all living and non-living things that exist around us. It is the sum of all things that exist around us at a particular time.

Types of environment

In social studies, there are two major types of the environment; they are Physical Environment and Social Environment. The physical environment will be explained in this chapter while the social environment will be discussed later.

The physical environment refers to all-natural and non-natural things around us. It can be regarded as our immediate environment. The natural environment includes grassland, rivers, mountains, hills, valleys, forest, desert, and many others. The non-natural or man-made features include bridges, houses, vehicles, roads, police stations, schools, hospitals, etc.

The physical features of Nigeria

Nigeria physical environment can best be described as tropical.

• Relief:

This refers to land surface features above the sea level. This includes highland and low land.

• Highland:

Highland can be described as a mountainous or hilly section of a country. It is an area of a country 300m above sea level. Highlands in Nigeria include Idanre Hills (950m), Adamawa mountain Plateau 300-600m etc, 18002400 m), Udinsuka

Importance of highlands

1. They serve as an easy defence during wars.
2. They serve as tourists centres. For instance Idanre Hills.
3. They help in the formation of rainfall.
4. They are good sources of minerals like gold, tin etc.
5. Some help in the construction of hydro-electric power in Nigeria.
6. They serve as sources of some rivers.

• Lowlands:

Lowlands could be referred to as areas below 300m above sea level. They could also be referred to as plains. Among the lowlands in Nigeria are the Niger Delta, Sokoto plain, the Chad Basin etc.

Importance of lowlands

1. They are very good for means of transportation e.g roads, railways airport.
2. They are good for agricultural purposes.
3. Some are good sources of minerals.
4. They are very suitable for human habitation.
5. They provide a good place for the rearing of animals.

• Rivers:

The two major rivers in Nigeria are Rivers Niger and Benue. Among other important rivers in Nigeria are Ogun, Osun, Zamfara, Rima, Anambra, Cross River, Donga, Katsina-Ala.

Importance or uses of rivers in Nigeria

1. They are used for domestic purposes e.g. drinking, washing etc.
2. They provide employment opportunities for fishermen, shipbuilders etc.
3. They are used for generating electricity e.g. Kanji dam.
4. They are used for irrigation
5. They are used by industrialists for production purposes e.g. For the production of soft drinks, bottled water etc.
6. They provide food for man: c.g. fishes, crayfish etc.
7. They are used in the construction of seaports.

• Lakes:

A lake can be defined as a body of water surrounded by land. A lake can be a man-made or natural lake. Examples of man-made lakes include Lake Kanji Shiroro Lake. A good example of a natural lake is Lake Chad.

Importance of lakes

Lakes have the same uses as rivers:

• Seasons:

There are two major seasons in Nigeria. Wet and dry seasons. The wet season is a period of rainfall and humidity. It falls between April and October (sometimes to November). It is normally caused by south-west wind. This a period for farming activities in Nigeria

The dry season starts from November to April. It is caused by North-East trade wind coming from the Sahara Desert. It comes with harmattan particularly in northern Nigeria where it is felt over a long period during the dry season unlike in the southern part where it is felt just for a few weeks, particularly in Lagos.

Influence of Season on Man

1. Farming activities: Farming activities increase during rainy season thereby making food available for man. During dry season farming, activities drastically reduce. However, harmattan aids some crops to ripe very fast for instance plantain, palm nuts etc.
2. Dressing: The two seasons influence man’s dressing. People wear thick clothes when it rains and light clothes during dry seasons.

• Weather:

This refers to the atmospheric condition at a particular time. The atmospheric condition changes from time. The following are the elements of weather and climate.

1. Temperature: This refers to the degree of coldness or hotness of a place at any particular time. Different places have different temperatures. The sun determines the temperature, an instrument called thermometer measures temperature. Temperature is usually measured in centigrade or Fahrenheit. Maximum and minimum thermometers normally measure the highest and lowest temperature during the day and night respectively.
2. Rainfall: It is a situation where excess condensed water vapour in the atmosphere is released to the earth. Rainfall is measured with an instrument called rain gauge.
   

3. Wind: this refers to the movement of the air at a particular direction.it is the horizontal flow or movement of air masses on the surface of the earth. In Nigeria, there are North-East trade winds and south-west winds. Others types of winds in other parts of the world are sirocco, tornadoes, cyclones, land and sea breezes etc. An instrument called wind vane and anemometer measures it.
4. Air pressure: Pressure can be defined as the force exerted on the earth surface and other objects by air. It is measured through instruments like mercury barometer and aneroid barometer.
   

5. Clouds: These are tiny droplets of water vapour in the atmosphere. Types of cloud include high cloud, medium cloud, low cloud and cloud with great vertical extent.
6. Sunshine: This varies from season to season it is a function of a place latitude and the slope of its space.

• Climate:

Climate refers to the average weather condition of a particular place over a period. The following are the differences between climate and weather.

1. The climate of a place is stable over a long period but the weather of a place is always very short (changes regularly).
2. Climate involves observation of the average weather condition of a place over a period but weather involves observing an element of atmospheric condition over a period of time.

• Vegetation:

This refers to the ground cover provided by plants. The vegetation of a place is often determined or influenced by its climate. Nigeria has three types of vegetation belt namely

1. Forest
2. Savanna
3. Montane

• Forest Vegetation: This mainly contains trees. It consists of mangrove swamp forest and rain forest.
• Savanna Vegetation: This consists of a tree covered with grasses and flowers located between stress. It can be subdivided into Guinea savanna, Sudan savanna and Sahel savanna.
• Montane Vegetation: This can be found in Adamawa, Jos etc with trees and grasses.

Vegetation map of Nigeria

 

In our next class, we will be talking more about the Physical Environment.  We hope you enjoyed the class.

Should you have any further question, feel free to ask in the comment section below and trust us to respond as soon as possible.

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