The spatial and temporal characteristics of climate change in Kakamega tropical rainforest ecosystem of Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to establish the spatial and temporal characteristics of climate change in the Kakamega Tropical Rainforest. This study was descriptive and cross-sectional in design and relied on a mixed methods methodology. Anthropogenic Global Warming Theory and Adaptive Management Theory were used to guide the study. A conceptual framework showing the interrelationship between the dependent and independent variables was outlined. The study utilized both secondary and primary data. The target population was 200 households living up to 10 km from the forest edge in the selected communities neighbouring Kakamega Tropical Rainforest and 20 government officials within Kakamega County. A total of 119 members of the households and 20 forest officers were sampled as respondents in the study. The study findings revealed that the spatial and temporal characteristics of climate change were very extreme temperatures and precipitation (the results revealed that temperature is increasing by 0.04 °C per annum while rainfall amounts have dropped by 150 mm for the past fifty-three years in the region). The study recommended that there is a need to conserve the forest to get rid of extreme temperatures and precipitation since it was a source of many services to the surrounding communities and that the forest ecosystem also helped to adapt or mitigate climate change among others.