December is supposed to be a cooler month in the country. I was expecting that kind of weather when I left the United States two weeks ago. It was so cold out there; in fact, when I left Minneapolis, Minnesota, there was already eight inches of snow.
When I landed at the airport in Seoul, South Korea, I felt the warm weather. “I’m back in a tropical country,” I told myself. “I hope the weather will be like this in the Philippines.”
But I was wrong. The heat was intense. So hot that I remember this kind of weather during the Holy Week. Whatever happened?
My question was answered when I heard Science Secretary Renato Solidum, Jr. in a televised briefing that the current El Niño, which the country is experiencing, can be “comparable” to the “worst” episode that happened from 1997 to 1998.
“The indication of El Niño is strong, so we have to prepare (for it),” Solidum said.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), 77% of the provinces in the country may experience drought while 7% may have dry spell conditions by the end of May next year.
The weather bureau defines drought as “three consecutive months of way below normal rainfall (60% reduction from average) or five consecutive months of below normal rainfall condition (21% to 60% reduction from average).”
Dry spell happens when “three consecutive months of below normal rainfall (21% to 60% reduction from average) or two months of consecutive way below normal rainfall (more than 60% reduction from average).”
An advisory released by the weather bureau last December 6 said that “a strong El Niño is present in the tropical Pacific and further intensified, nearing its peak in the coming months, as sea surface temperature anomalies have reached more than 1.5 degrees Centigrade.”
Forewarned is forearmed, so goes a saying. If we are not prepared for it, then we will likely experience hunger and food insecurity. Drought and dry spells will definitely affect crop, livestock, and fishery production.
“The effects of El Niño, especially in agriculture, such as crops, livestock, poultry, and irrigation system, will depend on the intensity or characteristics of El Niño,” Mona Liza Delos Reyes, a researcher from the University of the Philippine at Los Baños, was quoted as saying by Manila Bulletin.
Agriculture, livestock, and fishery are dependent on water. “Since rainfall is our ultimate source of water, if the rainfall is reduced, our water supply will also be reduced. Our irrigation system is fed with water from the rivers, lakes, and other sources of water,” Delos Reyes said.
El Niño also has a health impact. As temperature changes, there is a tendency that cases of mosquito-borne diseases (like dengue, malaria, and yellow fever) and water-borne diseases (diarrhea, leptospirosis, and cholera) will increase.
In addition, a likely increase in respiratory diseases will occur due to air conditions (acute respiratory infections). Nutritional diseases will also increase due to the low level of food supply and nutrients available in food.
The term “El Niño” (Spanish for “the Christ Child”) refers to a warming of the ocean surface, or above-average sea surface temperatures, in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
“El Niño can trigger extreme weather events globally – from fierce droughts, wildfires and heat waves to deadly flooding and tropical storms,” explains the website of Save The Children Foundation. “The global economic fallout is likely to also be huge, with a recent study estimating costs as high as $3.4 trillion.”
We need to do something now before it’s too late. That’s the reason why the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is “making sure that the water, energy, and agriculture will not be affected too much.”
In the televised briefing, Solidum said, “We need to have food stocks and make sure that enough water and energy are available. So, distribution is also a very crucial thing.”
For his part, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., ordered the creation of a task force that would help mitigate the effects of El Niño last December 12.
“We’ll have to organize the task force first,” the president was quoted as saying. “This is the time to put every condition together.”
During a meeting, National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. presented the National Action Plan for El Niño. It has identified five sectors where comprehensive strategies in regard to the effects of the weather phenomenon are laid out. The five sectors are water, food, power, health, and public safety.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) suggests that during the El Niño, we have to conserve water and use it wisely. Water sources must be protected from contamination.
People are also advised to wear light clothing. Strenuous physical activity must also be avoided.
Among the disorders associated with high temperatures include heat cramps, heat exhaustion, exertional heat injury and heat stroke.
Again, forewarned is forearmed.
