Learn · Impact
Effects: worldwide, and a lot closer to home
A warmer atmosphere doesn't just mean warmer days. It loads the dice toward heavier floods, longer droughts, melting ice and rising seas — and in 2025, Nigeria felt several of these firsthand.
Auyo village flood · Sani Maikatanga, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)Around the world
What a warmer planet is already doing
Rising temperatures
2025 was Earth's third-warmest year on record, about 1.3°C above the 1850–1900 average. The ten warmest years on record have all occurred since 2015.
Melting ice, rising seas
Arctic sea ice in 2025 was the second-lowest on record. Melting ice sheets and warming, expanding seawater are pushing sea levels upward year after year.
Fiercer weather
Warmer air holds more moisture and warmer oceans fuel stronger storms — 2025 saw 101 named storms worldwide, above the recent average of 88.
Warming, more acidic oceans
Oceans absorb most of the planet's extra heat. 2025 was the fifth straight year of record-high upper-ocean heat content — bad news for coral reefs and fisheries.
Disrupted growing seasons
Shifting rainfall and longer dry spells throw off planting and harvest timing for farmers who depend on predictable seasons.
Pressure on ecosystems
Species are shifting ranges, breeding times and migration patterns — some faster than ecosystems around them can adjust.
Closer to home
Nigeria in 2025: a hard year, on both ends of the water cycle
Climate change doesn't just bring more rain or less rain — in Nigeria's case, 2025 brought devastating amounts of both, in different regions, sometimes in the same season.
Floods. Nigeria's federal flood outlook flagged more than 1,200 communities across 30 of its 36 states as high-risk in 2025, and roughly 15 million Nigerians were estimated to be at risk. The worst single event struck Mokwa, in Niger State, in late May — among the deadliest flash floods the area has seen in decades, destroying homes, farmland, schools and a bridge that cut communities off from help. Nationwide flood data later in the year showed children made up the largest single group affected.
Heat and drought. At the same time, northern and central states faced severe heat stress — NiMet issued warnings as temperatures climbed past 40°C across 18 states, reaching as high as 42°C in cities like Yola and Kebbi. Delayed rains disrupted planting across several states, deepening food insecurity that the World Food Programme projected could affect tens of millions of people into 2026.
Coastlines. Along Lagos and other coastal communities, rising seas and storm surges are accelerating erosion, threatening homes and infrastructure built right up to the waterline.
None of this means Nigeria caused the problem — the country's historic contribution to global emissions is small. But geography and economics mean the impacts land hard anyway. That tension is exactly what the next page digs into.