Environmental, Anthropogenic, and Health Dimensions of Flooding: Perspectives in Man-environment Interactions

Abstract

Floods are events of great concern because of their adverse impact on the environment and human health. Natural causes of flood include environmental phenomena such as heavy rainfall, overflow of river banks and coastlines, and tidal surges. But beyond the natural, flooding also reflects the outcome of human interaction with the environment in many instances. Poor housing, high population density, poor drainage systems, and global warming are all anthropogenic factors in flooding. On the other hand, disease outbreaks, displacement of populations, economic losses, psychosocial disorders, injuries, and deaths are important problems associated with flooding. The concept of environmentalism provides some basis for understanding the man-environment interactions. Environmental determinism posits that human activities and behaviour is wholly determined by his environment. But the more lenient form of environmentalism is environmental possibilism, a concept that promotes the idea that man can substantially alter his environment to soothe his purposes and activities. However, some of man’s influence on his environment directly or indirectly relates to known causes of flooding such as unplanned housing with poor drainage systems, damming, and climate change effects. The causes and effects of flood have important relationships that can be explored in devising appropriate and sustainable approaches to flooding control. This paper puts in perspective the significance of the man-environment interaction as it relates to flooding and associated problems. It describes some major consequences of flooding in the context of this interaction and sites some examples of major flooding events in the recent past in Nigeria.