METEOROLOGIST ALLAYS FEARS ON ACID RAIN
Director-General of Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Dr Modupe Ogunwale, has again allayed fears of an impending acid rain in Nigeria. Dr Ogunwale, who spoke to Sunday Sun on the telephone, said careful investigation has been carried out by NIMET to the conclusion that the text message and email claiming that nigeria will experience acid rain was false and unfounded. 'You may wish to know that NIMET had investigated this Acid rain business and we have found out that NASA did not issue out any kind of statement on this acid rain business. In fact, NASA had stated that this shadow by the moon is a regular phenomena and it doesn't mean that it will affect the weather of the country or the world and it doesn't constitute to Acid rain.
'Such rains are not acid. You can only have acid rain when you have some radioactive elements around the place or a factory is manufacturing some radioactive elements like atomic bombs and the rest. 'That is why these things are done where it is very cold and nobody stays around there. In Nigeria, we are not doing these things. So, the Acid rain thing, I have a feeling that someone is just trying to test the effect of IT on passing message out. 'And once they tell you pass the message on and warn your loved ones, then it spreads like fire. But this thing is not correct. There is no acid rain anywhere in Nigeria.
It is just muddy rain because the dust has become embedded in the molecules of water', she explained.
She stated that the hazy weather condition that looked like harmattan was a result of the changing atmosphere. She said it, 'is a situation where desert sands are raised and transported to the northern easterly winds, very strong, and it comes into Nigeria through the north east axis and then when we see this dust breeze in the satellite picture, we always expect desert hails around that area. It is not strange. She explained that it normally occurs in November, December, January and maybe extending into February but on this particular occasion, it came towards the end of March. This, she said is one of the upsets of the normal weather that we have in Nigeria and it adds to the climate change that we are talking about.
She said that NIMET had issued warnings earlier on about the coming weather but Nigerians failed to take heed and advised the public to be more alert as dust particles in the atmosphere are capable of causing cold, catarrh and cough.