Climate change perils: Small Philippine islands may soon disappear into sea

Source: GMA News Online at  http://ph.news.yahoo.com/climate-change-perils-small-phl-islands-may-soon-105728266.html

 

Unless Filipinos pay attention to climate change and the signs of its impending crux, some of the small islands in the Philippines may vanish from the map altogether in the forthcoming years. 

Super typhoons, constant flooding, change of weather patterns, and long droughts are just manifestations of climate change, with the Philippines being one of the most vulnerable countries . This is what Dr. Rodel D. Lasco, a member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), claimed.


In an exclusive interview with GMA News Online, Dr. Lasco explained that one reason for this is that the country “has a long coastline where millions of people live including in urban centers such as Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao.”

According to a World Bank report, sea level rise within this century will affect a larger percentage of the Philippine coastline compared to that of other developing countries of Asia and the Pacific region.
 
Sea levels rising

“By the end of this century, sea levels in the region are expected to rise by about 125 centimeters, exceeding the global average by 10-15%,” noted the bank report, “Getting a Grip on Climate Change in the Philippines.”


“Even assuming the sea level in the region rises at the global average rate of about 100 centimeters, about 14% of the Philippines’ total population and 42% of its total coastal population will be affected by intensifying storm surges resulting from more intense typhoons.”

In a weekly forum some years back, a weather specialist said the waters around the archipelago rose by 1.8 millimeter every year from 1961 to 2003.

In a presentation, a study was shown that the coastal areas in Davao City, Navotas, Malabon, Cavite, and Legazpi City sank by 15 centimeters from 1970 to 1999.

On a personal level, American best-selling novelist Tom Anthony, based in Davao, noticed this phenomenon recently.


Two years ago, Anthony built a house near a beach front but when he returned recently he observed cracks on the cemented pathway. Some portions were no longer passable and it was dangerous to walk on it. The dead end of the long road from the entrance is now blocked with a sign that reads DANGER. The cemented fence of a house built near the seashore may soon give way as the waves of the sea keep on encroaching intohis backyard.


View Larger Map “This is a proof that sea level rise is for real,” said Anthony, author of “Rebels of Mindanao.” “I think people should stop thinking that climate change is a state of mind.
We need to do something about it now before it’s too late.”

Former Press Secretary Jesus G. Dureza also believes that the constant flooding happening in Davao City in recent years is due to sea level rise. “My calculation is that (the sea level) has risen by one foot over a period of 20 years,” he wrote in his column, “Advocacy Mindanao.” “Hence, rain waters and floods no longer easily flow or empty out into the sea. They are clogged in the waterways and spill out into the riverbanks.”

Dureza said that when flood waters rush down during high tide, they get stuck, at times and worse, a “backflow” of seawater during high tide. When seawaters rise high, it flows back inland through rivers. Hence, low-lying areas or subdivisions or residential areas around or near riverbanks are in trouble.

“I know this because I personally witnessed how the sea level had gone up over the years,” he pointed out. “Our family lived for four years in our resort house by the sea in Davao City in the 1990s (or about 20 years ago) while we were slowly renovating our house in the GSIS area inland. Our beach house was in fact built over the water, jutting out into the sea, with stilt cement posts and under our floor was sea water rising and ebbing.”

According to him, the highest water level during high tides left water traces on the cement posts. “I would notice because every time I woke up in the morning, I could see the water markings,” he said.
Recently, Dureza asked his resort employee to check the water markings on the same post he was monitoring for years.

“He told me the highest tide level has risen by about one foot or 12 inches from its highest level 20 years ago. Our science people may dispute this but I can show them the posts. In fact, we had to demolish one resort hut which was also jutting out into the sea because the water level rose to touch the floor over the years. It was way above the water when it was built.”
 
Vanishing islands, inundated plains

The rise of sea levels is just one of the most certain outcomes of climate change. “A continuing rise in average global sea level would inundate parts of many heavily populated river deltas and the cities on them, making them unhabitable, and would destroy many beaches around the world,” the IPCC said.

The Philippines, whose coastline stretches 18,000 kilometers, is very vulnerable to sea level rise. The country ranks fourth in the Global Climate Risk Index. Fifteen of the 16 regions of the Philippines are vulnerable to sea level rise.

A study conducted by the Philippine Country Study to Address Climate Change some years back showed that the Manila Bay is already subjected to several hazards, including flooding and storm surges.

“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.

Dr. Rosa Perez, a climate scientist at the Manila Observatory, said the sea level that has been projected in the study for the year 2100 would have risen by 0.3 meter and 1 meter to represent the low and high estimates and 2 meters for the worst-case scenario.

All of Cavite, she pointed out, will see a sea level rise of at least 30 centimeters. With every meter that it gains, the sea goes at least three kilometers inlands, she added. The sea will literally rise to flood the plains.

Climate change, scientists claim, is caused by an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases spewed into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases refer to carbon dioxide and other industrial gases.
 
43rd in greenhouse emissions


The Philippines ranks 43rd in terms of global greenhouse gas emissions and 112th in terms of emissions intensity, accounting for only 0.3% of global emissions.


“The country’s total greenhouse gas emissions, excluding land use change and forestry, have hovered around 80 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent since the late 1990s,” the World Bank report said.
The country’s principal emission sources are the energy and transport sectors, accounting for36% and 32% of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2005, respectively.

“By 2030, under a business as usual scenario, the emissions from the energy sector are estimated to quadruple,” said the World Bank report.

TYPHOON HAIYAN: THE ILLUSION OF THE AVOIDABLE DISASTER

Written for Zeit Online by Felix Lill. Below is the English (poor) translation from Babelfish. For the original German version, see

http://www.zeit.de/wissen/2013-11/philippinen-taifun-haiyan-praevention 

 

Researchers draw a bitter balance sheet: The Filipinos were ill-prepared for the typhoon . And, although the risk was known and had days lead . Felix Lill

What is a house, what a car, an animal or a human? Where Typhoon Haiyan has raged most , you do not know that these days. The storm has churned out all crushed and durchgequirlt . Trees , boats, tin roofs . And then he spat it back to the people - or even with them in it.

Who now looks from the air to the Philippines , sees something that resembles a gigantic dump. Boats are there where cars drove past . Car wrecks where children played otherwise .

Frightening. And even more frightening is that we already know of such images. After the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, it looked at the coasts of Thailand and numerous Indonesian islands exactly - and worse - from . And in 2011 , after a tsunami triggered by Japan's tsunami had flooded East Coast, we received similar images from Fukushima.
Wanted to learn to be better prepared for these disasters , develop early warning systems and operate better Coastal protection . How that would go , you should know that in Asia. It was simply a little . And now they are back , the images of destruction.

" From the global experience of the past years, we have to take as much as possible," warned even a year ago Mahmoud Mohieldin at a conference in 2011 severely affected by earthquake and tsunami Sendai. The Egyptian politician is one of the World Bank directors and then spoke in front of more than 200 international decision makers . People seemed to agree . It should something happen .

And now , in the Philippines ? The residents were better prepared ? The balance is from bitter - because the answer is no. "We had to train our people better," says Ebinezer Florano . The social scientist at the University of Manila criticized not only that the government now takes days to help those affected. One could also advance to better plan , he says. "People have not been well informed. " Although everyone has known this day that a strong typhoon was coming. "But the talk was also of a storm surge . Most people know what to do with this term . When the typhoon came with the tsunami , she thought suddenly , that would be a tsunami. "

Although an average of 19 typhoons a year to sweep the Philippines, the population was not adjusted to such a heavy storm that brings so violent floods with it . 800,000 people had indeed been brought to safety , journalists report . But the number of people affected now stands at more than ten times . According to information from the United Nations World Food Programme about 2.5 million people need urgent help . Maybe have a great deal of damage and many deaths can be avoided.

The death of many could have been avoided

Easy it would have been better to prepare it says Florano . Then people would have been not so much surprised , the current chaos might be smaller. Many people died because they did the wrong thing out of ignorance. So many are running on the run from the gusts of wind sweeping everything in the basement of sports halls. When the water came , they were drowned there. " When I compare my country with others, we do not cut particularly well ," said Florano .

The researchers compared the situation in Manila shortly after Typhoon Haiyan with the situation in the first days after two major natural disasters in Japan. His analysis : " There, things just work . " Two and a half years ago Florano had traveled to the Tohoku region, which was severely damaged by the earthquake and the resulting tsunami triggered in 2011. 16 years previously he had studied in the region of Kobe in western Japan , the consequences of an earthquake in 1995 , by 4500 people were killed .

" In both cases, the Japanese went very quietly to the disaster. People knew how they had to behave ," says Florano . " Even under great anxiety remained the social order , individuals took back for the good of the group . " His compatriots go sometimes from these characteristic , he says.

 

Climate change blamed for storms, flooding, drought

An inconvenient truth for Philippines: Wetter, drier
By Cathy Yamsuan, Kristine L. Alave

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 3, 2011 at http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/69281/climate-change-blamed-for-storms-flooding-drought#disqus_thread

Officials have warned Filipinos to brace against the inconvenient truth of devastating storms, flooding and drought unless policies and projects are put in place to mitigate climate change.

Undersecretary Graciano Yumul of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said that in the next 20 to 50 years, the Philippines would find “the dry seasons drier and the wet seasons wetter.”

“With the climate change scenario, we will see more of this as a frequent reality,” Yumul said in an interview. “What we used to consider as abnormal we should now consider as normal,” he noted.

Scientists describe the phenomenon as any distinct changes in weather patterns, such as temperature, rainfall, wind and snow over a long period of time.

A major factor is global warming—the increase in the oceanic and atmospheric temperatures of the planet resulting in the melting of the ice caps and the rising of the seas.

The doomsday scenarios, depicted in Al Gore’s 2006 award-winning documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” are now playing out in the Philippines.

The climatology division of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has released the results of a study in 2010 concluding that climate data from 1960 to 2003 showed significant increases in the frequency of hot days and warm nights in many areas of the country.

On the other hand, Pagasa observed that cooler days had decreased. This trend mirrors the experience of other countries in Southeast Asia, Pagasa said as it predicted more rains in the Philippines in the coming decades.

“Reduction of rainfall is seen in March, April and May in most provinces, while rainfall increases are likely in Luzon and Visayas in 2020 and 2050 during the June-July-August and September-October-November seasons,” the study said.

“Greater increase in rainfall is expected in the provinces of Luzon (0.9-63 percent) and Visayas (2-22 percent) during the peak southwest monsoon period (June-July-August).”

The number of days where temperature will breach 35 degrees Celsius will also increase in 2020 and 2050, according to Pagasa models.

Fishponds

Antonio Apostol Jr., chief geologist of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, said human activities in the regions that bore the brunt of Typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel” that struck the country last week exacerbated the hazards and the risks.

The plains of Bulacan and Pampanga have always been prone to floods, he said.

But the proliferation of fishponds and aquaculture projects in the major waterways and in the coasts has slowed down the flow of water from the typhoons and the dams, resulting in prolonged flooding in residential and rural areas, Apostol said.

“These have a multiplier effect. So when the water was released from the dams, the natural drainage could not handle it anymore,” he said.

If there were no fishponds and garbage clogging the canals and rivers of the region, “the outflow would have been quicker,” Apostol said.

Floods and landslides will be more widespread until officials realize that they should adapt to the changes in weather and lessen their effects on the general population, Apostol and Yumul said.

“In other parts of the country, we are seeing the same situation. In the cities of Butuan and Cotabato, there were floods, too, because the rivers were clogged with water lilies,” Apostol said.

“In Cotabato, for instance, the industries pollute the river there with nitrates which induce the growth of the lilies,” he added.

Deforestation

Yumul also noted that deforestation had caused flooding in areas which did not experience it in the past. “The deforestation in the last 20, 50 years has come back to us,” he said.

Local officials, he said, should be more prepared to respond to extreme weather events to prevent the loss of lives and properties. “We’ve been telling them this for the last 10 years,” Yumul said.

Ricardo Calderon, regional executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said yesterday that forest cover in the western side of Nueva Ecija and Bulacan was still adequate. He blamed flooding on heavy rainfall, the release of dam water and high tide.

“Although our forest cover may be high, the trees could not retain the volume of water,” Calderon said.

He denied illegal logging was rampant, disputing claims by Philippine Daily Inquirer informants that local officials were collaborating with the activity.

‘Ondoy’ scenario

Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate climate change committee, said she called Yumul on Saturday night to ask whether protocols in releasing water from dams in Central Luzon were observed last week.

“The undersecretary said floods will be the norm, that even if a typhoon brings a lighter volume of water, we can expect this scenario happening now with Typhoons Pedring and Quiel. He said Pedring brought only 30 percent of Ondoy’s volume and yet the damage was nearly the same,” Legarda told the Inquirer.

“That means if Tropical Storm ‘Ondoy’ happens again, a typhoon with that huge amount of rain, we have to brace for even deeper floods,” she warned.

Legarda said the confluence of events she had been warning against for years had now led to disturbing images of helpless residents waiting for help on rooftops, long lines of people queuing for potable water, and whole barangays transformed into river extensions.

Soil erosion

The senator said that illegal logging, slash-and-burn farming and quarrying in mountain areas would lead to soil erosion and flooding.

Representatives of the Central Luzon dam operators have been summoned to a hearing of the Senate on Monday afternoon.

“If (Pagasa) can predict the volume of rainfall, dam operators can already release water in increments that would not be destructive,” Legarda explained.

“If this kind of meteorological information can be determined, say, one week before a typhoon arrives, does it not make common sense that the dam operators would not release the water only on the day it finally arrives,” she asked.

She noted that dam reportedly released water on September 27, after Pedring struck.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile cautioned that predicting rainfall would not be easy.

“The nature of calamity is that weather is really unpredictable. Who really knows if the rainfall prediction is correct? What if the amount of water released by the dams based on Pagasa’s advisory could not be recovered from the expected rains?” Enrile said.

He said that while the government could always attempt to determine accountability, “we’ll have to find long-term solutions and planning, instead of just prosecuting anybody.” With reports from Tonette Orejas and Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon

PAGASA: More floods, landslides loom over east Visayas, Mindanao

After leaving at least nine people dead and affecting more than 15,000 residents, flash floods and landslides continue to threaten parts of Visayas and Mindanao, state weather forecasters said Friday.

Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) forecaster Gener Quitlong said the northeast monsoon is prevailing over Luzon while a wind convergence is affecting Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

"Ang payo natin sa mga kababayan natin diyan maging alerto tayo. Naroon ang convergence zone kaya nakakabuo ang kaulapan (Our advice to our people living in those areas is to be alert. There is a wind convergence over Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and clouds bringing rains are likely to form there)," Quitlong said in an interview on dzBB radio.

On Thursday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the death toll from floods and landslides that hit parts of the Visayas and Mindanao in past days went up to nine.

Some 3,130 families or 15,398 people from Bohol, Western Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte in the Visayas; and Misamis Oriental and South Cotabato in Mindanao were affected.

Of these, 2,878 families or 14,138 people were evacuated.

Yet, PAGASA said the affected areas may still continue to experience rains.

"Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms becoming cloudy with widespread rains over the Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas and Northeastern Mindanao which may trigger flashfloods and landslides. Northern and Central Luzon will be be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated light rains," PAGASA said in its 5 a.m. bulletin. — LBG, GMA News

Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/215574/nation/pagasa-more-floods-landslides-loom-over-east-visayas-mindanao

Resolve II: Charter Change, Napapanahon Na Nga Ba?

During the last years of the previous administration, clamor for Charter Change or Cha-Cha was high. The UP Samahan Tungo sa Progresibong Administrasyon (UP-STPA) sponsored a public forum to provide a much needed place for public discussion and to settle the issue on Cha-Cha. It was titled, “Resolve: Is Cha-Cha the way to Philippine Development?” Two years since the last forum, there is once again clamor for Charter Change and this time, we have a new administration. Thus, the UP-STPA decided to do a sequel on it entitled, "Resolve II: Charter Change, Napapanahon Na Nga Ba?” on 10 March 2011 (Thursday) at the Assembly Hall of the U.P. National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG) from 1:00pm – 5:00 pm. Admission is free.

Speakers from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government were invited to shed light on the topic. There will be reactions from the civil society. Details will be provided as soon as the invited speakers have confirmed their attendance. For inquiries, please contact Marlowe Popes at 0915-869-1671 or Chev Salvador at 0927-844-3919.

UP-STPA is a UP Diliman-registered organization founded in 1988. It is a two-time Gawad Chancellor awardee for Best Student Organization in 1996 and 1997.

SENATOR EDGARDO ANGARA SEEKS PASSAGE OF 'GREEN' LAWS

Note: Senator Ed Angara can be an ally for green growth.

During a recent press conference, Senator Edgardo J. Angara called upon his colleagues in the government to embark on "an overall greening" or cleanup of the country to reduce the high levels of pollution. This movement, he says, can be initiated through the creation of more comprehensive environmental laws by the Congress.

The veteran lawmaker explained that several environmental laws are already in existence but are not being properly implemented throughout the nation.

"There are already different environmental laws passed in recent year, but have not been put into action. I believe we must update and modernize these laws to adapt to the changes in the environment and the development of green technologies," said Angara.

"Maybe it's time for a total review of these environmental laws--with provisions and punishments attuned to the advancements in technology and the changes in the global climate over the past ten years," said Angara.

Angara, head of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, also emphasized the need to develop environmentally-friendly projects in the country.

"Green technology, such as the use of renewable energy, low-emission machinery and the development of recycling facilities would all play a great role in solving the pollution problem in the Philippines, especially in the metropolitan areas," said Angara.

Source: http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2011/0218_angara1.asp

Part 1: Governance of Climate Change in the Philippines

(for a clearer copy, e-mail the author at efloranoy@yahoo.com)

by Ebinezer R. Florano
with inputs from the MoI Cluster of the CCC-NCCAP Technical Workshop*

The Philippine Climate Change Commission (CCC) conducted a "Technical Workshop on the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP)" on 26-28 January 2011 at Stotsenberg Hotel in Clark Field, Pampanga. The objective, among others, was to help the CCC create concrete action plans for the implementation of the NCCAP from 2011-2028. The 500+ participants from national government agencies, local government units, academe, political parties, and civil society organizations were grouped into several clusters, one of which is the Means of Implementation (MoI) cluster. The MoI cluster was able to draw up some concrete plans for the NCCAP and the CCC. In addition, they drew the relationships of the CCC to various national government agencies and local government units (LGUs), taking into consideration the legal mandates of these agencies. The diagram above is the product of the long-discussion on what should be the working relationships of various government agencies in the area of climate change governance in the Philippines.

In a summary, the President of the Philippines provides the strategic direction on climate change governance. He/she is assisted by the CCC which is the sole policy-making body of the government tasked to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the programs and action plans of the government relating to climate change pursuant to the provisions of the Climate Change Act of 2009 (Republic Act No. 9729). The CC policies shall be integrated into the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) and all other plans that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is tasked to do as the central development planning agency of the country. The President is Chairman of both the CCC and the NEDA, hence, coordination should not pose as a problem between the two agencies.

For 2011-2016, NEDA has chosen "Green Growth" as its theme for the MTPDP of the Aquino Administration. Planning for CC and green growth, theoretically, should use both the bottom-up and top-down approach. The President, at the beginning of his/her term, shall instruct, through NEDA, all government agencies, including LGUs and government-owned and/or controlled corporations (GOCCs), to formulate their development plans according to his/her vision and campaign promises.

Now, that climate change is mandated to be mainstreamed into all development plans by the Climate Change Act of 2009, the NEDA guidelines should reflect this. Using the NEDA guidelines, all LGUs, which are at the frontline of the CC campaigns, through their local development councils (LDCs), shall formulate their Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP) which shall serve as inputs, together with plans for local disaster risk reduction (DRR), to the local development plans (LDPs), annual investment plans, etc. Municipalities and cities can be assisted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), various local government leagues, and their provincial governments in the formulation of the LCCAP and LDPs.

All of these local development plans shall be integrated and be used for the formulation of regional development plans (RDPs). In the formulation of the RDPs, multi-stakeholder participation - from regional offices of national government agencies, provincial chief executives, and civil society organizations - is employed. The regional offices of NEDA act as secretariat to the Regional Development Councils which are tasked to formulate their RDPs.

From the regional level, the NEDA regional offices shall transmit the RDPs to their national office - the NEDA Secretariat. The RDPs shall serve as inputs in the formulation of the MTPDP. The latter shall be approved by the NEDA Board whose chairman is the President of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, all LCCAPs shall also be transmitted directly to the CCC which shall integrate all of them and see to it that they are mainstreamed into the MTPDP.

The diagram above can also be used not only in mainstreaming of CC matters in the development plans but also in the implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of CC programs, plans, and projects.

Unfortunately, during the discussions in the MoI cluster, it was reported that the 2011-2016 MTPDP is being formulated without the benefit of the top-down and bottom-up approaches described above. Hence, there is lingering doubt that the MTPDP would really reflect the LDPs and RDPs of LGUs, and even the sectoral plans of national government agencies, to climate-proof the country's development.

*Note: The diagram and discussions benefitted from the contributions from the following government agencies, LGU umbrella organization, environmental NGOs, political parties, and an academic institutions, namely: Climate Change Commission, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Transportation and Communication (government agencies); Union of Local Government Authorities, Rice Watch and Action Network, Conservation International, Philippine Clean Air Initiative (NGOs); University of the Philippines-National College of Public Administration and Governance (academe); and Partido Kalikasan, and 1-UTAK (political parties).

*Disclaimer: The author is solely responsible for this write-up. All agencies and organizations mentioned above should not be held liable.

(Next topic: Other suggestions from the MoI cluster presented to the CCC during the technical workshop).

7 of 10 Filipinos Believe Climate Change Dangerous to Environment, Families - Survey

7 of 10 Pinoys believe climate change dangerous to environment, families - survey

Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=603478&publicationSubCategoryId=63
By Helen Flores and Amanda Fisher (The Philippine Star)
Updated August 17, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (6)


MANILA, Philippines - Seven of every 10 Filipinos acknowledge the dangers posed by climate change to the environment, with Metro Manila residents voicing the biggest concern, results of the latest Pulse Asia “Ulat ng Bayan” survey show.

According to the survey, the percentage of Filipinos who are worried about the dangers of climate change has gone up to 71 percent from 61 percent two years ago.

Pulse Asia also said the figure was a high 84 percent in Metro Manila, possibly because of tropical storm “Ondoy” last year which flooded most of the capital and killed close to 500 people.

It also attributed the rising awareness about climate change among Metro Manila’s 12 million residents to a drought this year that caused severe water shortage.

The same survey also showed that 21 percent of Filipinos believe God is punishing humans for their evil deeds by inflicting environmental catastrophes on them, although the figure is lower than the 23 percent recorded two years ago. The Philippines is predominantly Roman Catholic.

The survey was conducted from July 1 to 11 and involved interviews with 1,200 respondents.

Based on the survey, two in three Filipinos noticed a “big change” in the country’s climate over the past three years, and almost half said they had “little or no knowledge” of the climate change phenomenon.

The survey also found that 66 percent of Filipinos experienced a big change in climate in their places in the past three years.

On the other hand, 11 percent of respondents said there was little change in the climate in their areas during the period, while 23 percent were undecided on the matter. Public ambivalence was most pronounced in Mindanao (33 percent) and the least in Metro Manila (12 percent) and the Visayas (14 percent).

“Between July 2008 and July 2010, more Filipinos felt a big change in the climate in their place (+8 percentage points) while slightly fewer expressed ambivalence on the matter (-6 percentage points),” Pulse Asia said.

Almost 80 percent of Metro Manilans – the highest in the country – noted a big change in local climate. Metro Manila residents who claimed knowledge of climate change made up 63 percent, based on the survey.

In Mindanao, 52 percent of respondents have reported little or no knowledge of climate change. Similarly, the region had the smallest percentage of residents across the country that had noticed a big change in climate, at only 58 percent.

Meanwhile, two thirds of the respondents said recent weather-related calamities in the country and around the world were primarily the result of “human-induced environmental destruction.”

Sixty-three percent of survey respondents expressed belief that the various calamities that hit the Philippines and other countries in recent months had been the result of “humanity’s environmentally destructive ways.”

On the other hand, two in 10 Filipinos see these calamities as “God’s way of warning or punishing countries that have turned evil ways.”

Fourteen percent of respondents believe these calamities are only part of a process that naturally occurs worldwide.

The good news is more Filipinos are ready to take action, like recycling and segregating waste as well as planting trees. Up to 30 percent of those surveyed said they were willing to do more for the environment, such as educate others. However, 10 percent said they would not do anything more to protect the environment.

Pulse Asia describes climate change as “any long-term significant change in the average weather that a given region experiences.”

Asked to comment on the Pulse Asia survey, Science Undersecretary Graciano Yumul said there is a need to intensify the campaign to educate the public on climate change.

“What we are experiencing now is not ordinary. There are a lot of changes attributable to both man-induced climate change and natural variability. Enhanced information campaign understandable to our people about this issue needs to be done,” he said in text message to The STAR.

“We are in the midst of climate-related uncertain times,” Yumul added.

GREEN VOTE, GREEN GROWTH (A Movement), Version 2.0

(Click picture to enlarge)