A SEMINAR PRESENTATION

ON

METEOROLOGY AND RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES

BY

AKANDE SAMUEL OLUMIDE

Centre for Space Research and Applications

FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE

olusamakande@yahoo.com

INTRODUCTION• Weather is the state of the

atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy.

• Inclement weather threatens our area worship services, ministries, Bible studies and other activities may be canceled.   It is increasingly recognized that worship centres are a precious resource which play a vital role in their communities. Christian Association of Nigeria

(CAN), Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and the Islamic Society of Nigeria stand to benefit immensely as regards plans and preparations involving (open-air) crusades, revivals, NASFAT crusades etc.

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIESCROSS-SECTION OF WORSHIPPERS

Christianity and Islam, being the major religions in Nigeria, have numerous worshippers.

FACTORS AFFECTING RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES• Of the many factors that

disrupts religious activities, meteorological factors take the majority.

Heavy Rainfall Thermal Comfort Cold (due to low temperature) High Sun intensity Prolonged Rainfall False Propaganda (e.g. acid rain) False Broadcast of weather forecast Sickness (change of weather) Flooding (due to heavy rainfall)

Is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge (spark) accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms.

It is the occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud, accompanied by a bright flash and typically also thunder.

LIGHTNING

Causes damage to electronic equipments in worship centres, especially religious buildings with bad or no lightning arrester.

WIND• It is widely known that weather

can influence sound propagation, but by how much?

• Wind is air in motion. It is produced by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. This movement of air is what makes the wind blow.

Roofs of many worship centres had been blown off due to strong winds and rain storm.

HEAVY (PROLONGED) RAINFALL Heavy rainfall raises the water

level. When the water level is higher than the river banks or the dams, the water comes out from the river, there will have flooding.

FLOOD An overflow of an expanse of

water that submerges land, most frequently caused by heavy or persistent rainfall.

In Nigeria, flooding continues to be the most common and costly type of emergency faced by citizens residing near the coastal areas. Religious activities are also affected.

Provides Datasets for rainfall amount, periods, duration and intensity which are useful for flood prediction.

STUDY AREA

DATA AND ANALYSISDATA Weekly (Tuesdays

and Thursdays) activities’ data obtained from the ushering departments of four Parishes of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) located within the study area.

Meteorological data used, were obtained from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), for the period of 12 months (JAN-DEC., 2010).

RR days days RR (mm) RR (hrs) RR RR (mm/hr) GOV AN B G D V

6-May THU 40 5 03.00-08.00 8.00 43 14 31 14

8-Jun TUE 64 2.5 16.00-18.30 25.60 16 6 14 7

13-Jul TUE 44 3.25 06.45-10.00 13.54 27 14 19 11

10-Aug TUE 53 5.33 15.00-20.20 9.94 38 6 21 11

12-Aug THU 62 2.66 11.00-13.40 23.31 22 8 14 6

19-Aug THU 65 2.5 15.30-18.00 26.00 11 3 12 4

14-Sep TUE 43 4.66 2.00-6.40 9.23 41 9 25 8

7-Oct THU 45 4.75 14.00-18.45 9.47 20 11 11 7

19-Oct TUE 98 2.5 15.00-17.30 39.20 9 3 7 2

R² = 0.6792

4

6

8

10

12

14

8.00 13.00 18.00 23.00 28.00 33.00 38.00

ATT

END

AN

CE

RAINFALL INTENSITY (mm/hr)

RAINFALL INTENSITY AGAINST ATENDANCE (MAY-DEC., 2010)

D V

Linear (D V)

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

R² = 0.6989

14

19

24

29

34

39

44

8.00 13.00 18.00 23.00 28.00 33.00 38.00

ATT

END

AN

CE

RAINFALL INTENSITY (mm/hr)

RAINFALL INTENSITY AGAINST ATENDANCE (MAY-DEC., 2010)

GOV

Linear (GOV)

RECOMMENDATIONS Lightning arrester

should be used in worship centres so as to prevent damage to electronic instruments.

Meteorologists should be consulted before religious structures are erected.

Open-air crusades, Revivals, Outreaches and Camp Conventions dates should be fixed and planned with Meteorologists.

CONCLUSION Weather (or

climatic) fluctuations have rendered on some occasions, the activities of worship centres a partial success.

The results obtained and shown in this case study, as proved the importance and the relevance of weather to religious activities.

The rainfall periods, durations, amounts and intensity and other meteorological variables contribute immensely to determining the rate of attendance of worshippers.

GODISA

METEOROLOGIST