Perception of harmattan as a hazard among urban dwellers in northern nigeria

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Periodical article

Title:	Perception of harmattan as a hazard among urban dwellers in northern nigeria
Author:	Rasheed, K.B. Sajjadur
Year:	1985
Periodical:	Annals of Borno
Volume:	2
Pages:	35-42
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Northern Nigeria
Subjects:	health climate
Abstract:	Harmattan is an extremely dry dust-laden wind which blows from the Sahara toward the West African coast in winter months, between November and February. The thick dust haze caused by harmattan during this period in West Africa is a potent source of health hazard. On the basis of a questionnaire survey conducted among 280 respondents in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, in 1981, the author assesses the perception of harmattan among these northern Nigerian urban dwellers and their responses and adjustments to this phenomenon. All respondents demonstrated an awareness of the basic characteristics of harmattan, and about 84 percent perceived harmattan as a health hazard. People who have lived in Maiduguri for a short time show greater alarm at harmattan effects than older residents, for whom the phenomenon is of such regular and predictable occurence that they have developed a very high adaptive capacity. Abstr., note, ref.