By Jims Vincent T. Capuno
The Philippines is one of the most beautiful topical countries in the world. It is touted to be the Pearl of the Orient Seas. But the other side of its beauty and charm is that the country is susceptible to natural disasters and calamities.
Normally, the country experiences tropical cyclones of up to 20 a year, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). Tropical cyclones are classified into tropical depression, with winds up to 38 miles per hour, tropical storm with winds from 39 to 73 miles per hour and typhoons with winds of at least 74 miles per hour.
In recent years, stronger typhoons have become more frequent. In October 1995, “Rosing” claimed at least 700 lives and destroy P2.5 billion worth of crops and public infrastructure, as well as hundreds of million of pesos worth of private property.
Environmentalists blamed climate change brought about by global warming as the primary culprit of the stronger typhoons that hit the Philippines in recent years. “This kind of disasters is on the rise – turbocharged by climate change,” deplored Senator Loren Legarda.
Experts believe that as climate changes around the world, sea temperature is also expected to rise which, in turn, could increase the number of tropical cyclones and storms.
“Weather patterns could become unpredictable, as would extreme weather events, hurricanes could become much stronger and more frequent,” wrote Lulu Bucay in a brochure published by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The change in global temperature has also been incriminated for the severe droughts that hit the Philippines every now and then. The 1992-1993 droughts, for instance, caused long forest fires in Mindanao and other parts of the country.
“Witness the effect of drought, not only is agricultural production decreased but because waters in the reservoirs are inadequate, energy for industry is also limited, hence industrial production also suffers,” Senator Legarda reiterated. “Not to mention the discomfort of households due to limited water and electricity.”
“Climate change is a global challenge that threatens every nation, no matter how large or small, wealthy or poor,” said US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. “The threat is serious, it is urgent, and it is growing.”
It was Dr. James E. Hansen, of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), who first raised the problem of global warming. In 1988, he told an American Senate hearing that “the greenhouse effect is changing our climate now.”
In a Reader’s Digest article, author Robert James Bidinotto, explains greenhouse effect in these words: “When sunlight warms the earth, certain gases in the lower atmosphere, acting like the glass in a greenhouse, trap some of the heart as it radiates back into space. These greenhouse gases, primarily water vapor and including carbon dioxide, methane and man-made chlorofluorocarbons, warm our planet, making life possible.”
“The global warming is very simple,” said Dr. Robert Watson, chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the 2007 co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. “We are increasing emissions of greenhouse gases and thus their concentrations in the atmosphere are going up. As these concentrations increase, the temperature of the earth rises.”
“While human activities during the past century have damaged a long list of nature systems, most of these problems are local or regional in scope and can be revered in years to decades if sufficient effort is exerted,” Christopher Flavin wrote in his book, Slowing Global Warming: A Worldwide Strategy. “Changes to the earth’s atmosphere on the other hand are global and irreversible not only in our lifetimes but in our children’s and grandchildren’s as well.”
The IPCC projections indicate that, if emissions continue to rise at their current pace and are allowed to double from their pre-industrial level, the world will face an average temperature rise of around 3 degrees Centigrade this century.
“Climate change means much more than higher global temperatures,” pointed out Heherson T. Alvarez, who convened the Asia-Pacific Leaders Conference on Climate Change in Manila when he was still with the Senate. “Global warming could result in a wide range of catastrophic consequences.”
Dr. Rodel D. Lasco, a member of the IPCC, is very much aware of the devastation that climate change will likely bring among Filipinos. For one, the country “has a long coastline where millions of people live including in urban centers such as Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao .”
As the world atmosphere warms under a greenhouse effect, scientists predict, the seas will rise – threatening to change the contours of coastlines. Some 70 percent of the country’s 1,500 municipalities are along the coast and face flooding with sea level rise.
A study conducted by the Philippine Country Study to Address Climate Change found that the Manila Bay is already subjected to several hazards, including flooding and storms. “Shoreline changes due to reclamation for housing, ports, coastal roads, buildings and other urbanized development are high, adding to an increased threat of inundation,” the study said.
Sulu is the province with the highest land area that is highly vulnerable to the sea-level rise. In this southern Philippines province, 90 percent of the land area of Pata municipality, and 34 percent of the land area of Marunggas municipality are vulnerable to the rise, according to Greenpeace, an international environment watch group.
Aside from Sulu, the other provinces vulnerable to sea level rise are Palawan, Zamboanga del Sur, Northern Samar, Zamboanga Sibugay, Basilan, Cebu, Davao del Norte, Bohol, Camarines Sur, Quezon, Tawi-Tawi, Masbate, Negros Occidental, Camarines Norte, Capiz, Catanduanes, Samar, Zamboanga del Norte, and Maguindanao.
Sea level rise would also endanger the drinking water quality and agricultural productivity, PAGASA says. This is due to possible salt intrusion in coastal soils and fresh water aquifers. Already, one of every five residents quaffs water from dubious sources in 24 provinces, the Philippine Human Development Report points out.
People are not the only that will likely be most affected. “Important ecosystems such as mangrove forests could also be lost,” warned Dr. Lasco, who is the country’s coordinator for the World Agroforestry Center .
