2010: Global climate hotter, wettest

The new figures confirm that 2010 will go down as one of the more exceptional years in the annals of climatology. Last year saw prodigious snowstorms that broke seasonal records in the United States and Europe; a record-shattering summer heat wave that scorched Russia; strong floods that drove people from their homes in places like Pakistan, Australia, California and Tennessee; a severe die-off of coral reefs; and a continuation in the global trend of a warming climate.

Two US agencies—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—reported on Wednesday that the global average surface temperature for 2010 had tied the record set in 2005.

The analyses differ slightly: In the NOAA version, the 2010 temperature was 0.62 degree Celsius (1.12 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average for the 20th century, which is 14 degrees Celsius (57 Fahrenheit).

Climate experts have become increasingly concerned about rising global temperatures over the last century. A large majority of climatologists attribute global warming to industrial processes and gasoline-burning engines that release heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

“The warmth this year reinforces the notion that we are seeing climate change,” said David Easterling, chief of scientific services at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center.

Warmest years

It was the 34th year running that global temperatures have been above the 20th century average; the last below-average year was 1976. More remarkable, 9 of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since the beginning of 2001.

Easterling said the temperature readings collected at land stations and from ships and buoys at sea “unequivocally” disproved claims that climate warming ended in 2005.

“If the warming trend continues, as is expected, if greenhouse gases continue to increase, the 2010 record will not stand for long,” said James Hansen, the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Bob Ward at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science said the US data showed “that the Earth is warming and its temperature is at record levels.”

Last year’s data “also showed that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had reached 390 parts per million, its highest level for at least 800,000 years and almost 40 percent higher than the level before the start of the Industrial Revolution when humans started to burn fossil fuels in increasing amounts,” Ward said.

“The evidence is overwhelming that human activities are driving climate change,” he added.

Wettest year

Last year was also the wettest on record, according to NOAA which cited a report of the Global Historical Climatology Network that made the calculation based on global average precipitation.

A warmer atmosphere holds more water, which in general can result in more floods, Easterling explained.

The NOAA analysis tracked weather changes that contributed to massive floods in Pakistan and a heat wave in Russia, saying an “unusually strong jet stream” from June to August was to blame.

“The jet stream remained locked in place for weeks, bringing an unprecedented two-month heat wave to Russia and contributing to devastating floods in Pakistan at the end of July,” the agency said.

As various crops were scorched and countless farms were inundated, global food prices rose to record levels and threatened to lead to food riots like those seen in 2008.

When it came to hurricanes and storms, the Pacific Ocean saw the fewest number of hurricanes and named storms, three and seven respectively, since the 1960s.

Shrinking sea ice

But the Atlantic Ocean told a different story, with 12 hurricanes and 19 named storms, marking the second highest number of hurricanes on record and third highest for storms.

NASA analysts said the shrinking sea ice in the Arctic may have made winters in Europe and Canada warmer than usual.

“Winter weather patterns are notoriously chaotic, and the analysis finds seven of the last 10 European winters warmer than the average from 1951 to 1980,” NASA said in a statement.

“The unusual cold in the past two winters has caused scientists to begin to speculate about a potential connection to sea ice changes,” it said.

“Arctic sea ice acts like a blanket, insulating the atmosphere from the ocean’s heat. Take away that blanket, and the heat can escape into the atmosphere, increasing local surface temperatures. Regions in northeast Canada were several degrees warmer than normal in December.”

The United States was wetter and hotter last year than the average values for the 20th century, but overall the year was not as exceptional in this country as for the world as a whole.

Still, some remarkable events occurred at a regional scale, including snowstorms last February that shattered seasonal records in cities like Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia. In the summer, a heat wave broke records in the South and along much of the East Coast.

Future weather

The NASA and NOAA reports did not predict weather in the future.

But the UN climate science panel said the weather was likely to be more extreme this century because of a buildup of gases released by burning fossil fuels and forest destruction.

Jay Gulledge, the senior scientist at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, said farmers and others may be able to adjust to expected warmer temperatures, but preparing for extreme weather would be harder.

“We’ve got really immense potential right now to have even bigger impacts from the direct effects of extreme events,” he said.

As the weather warmed, the world did not do enough to prevent future climate change, scientists said.

At the UN climate talks in Cancun late last year, nearly 200 countries agreed to set a target of limiting a rise in average world temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) over preindustrial times.

But promised emissions curbs by big polluters such as China and the United States are not enough to achieve that goal and tougher actions are needed, climate scientists said.

Paradox

Frigid winters in parts of Europe and the United States in 2010 may be a paradoxical side effect of climate change, some scientists said.

Rising temperatures mean a shrinking of sea ice in the Arctic, heating the region and pushing cold air southward during the winter, according to a study last month in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Warming of the air over the Barents and Kara seas, for instance, seems to bring cold winter winds to Europe.

“This is not what one would expect,” said Vladimir Petoukhov, lead author of the study and climate scientist at Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “Whoever thinks that the shrinking of some far away sea-ice won’t bother him could be wrong.”

The release of the NOAA report itself was delayed one day by an unusually hard snowstorm in North Carolina.

“These anomalies could triple the probability of cold winter extremes in Europe and northern Asia,” Petoukhov said. “Recent severe winters like last year’s ... do not conflict with the global warming picture, but rather supplement it.” Reports from The New York Times, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer Online at http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110114-314309/Global-climate-hotter-wettest

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hopefully, less thrash/garbage on New Year's Eve celebrations. And enough of air-polluting and hand/finger-destroying fireworks.

2010 Advanced Training Workshop on Southeast Asia Regional Health Impacts and Adaptation under Climate Change

Tribute to my group, Group 1, whose research proposal was judged as the best in the culminating activity of the 2010 Advanced Training Workshop on Southeast Asia Regional Health Impacts and Adaptation under Climate Change, held in Tainan City, Taiwan on Nov. 24-30, 2010. Our research proposal is entitled, “Impact Assessment of Climatic Disasters on Health: Case Studies on Selected Southeast Asian Countries.” It was evaluated and ranked by four public health experts and our co-participants. Shown in the picture, after the announcement of the winning group, are my groupmates, namely: Uma Langkulsen (Thailand), Norela Sulaiman (Malaysia), Ramzah Dambul (Malaysia), Hoa Pham Thi (Viet Nam), and me, Ebinezer Florano(Philippines). We are now looking for possible sources of funds to conduct it.

REFLECTIONS ON THE ROLE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION

by
Paula Bianca Reyes
BA Public Administration
National College of Public Administration and Governance
University of the Philippines-Diliman

Climate change represents the greatest environmental, social and economic failure the world has seen. Although we can say that by almost every measure, life is the easiest at present, we cannot deny the fact that climate change is happening faster, with larger impacts and bigger risks.

Public administration is a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope", of which the fundamental goal is to advance management and policies so that government can function (Rabin 1989). Through planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring of different policies, the role of Public Administration in climate change adaptation and mitigation is becoming visible nowadays. It is concerned with the vital process of policy formulation and implementation. It is public demand that will create solutions. Through the different laws and policies created by our government, we are guided to take part in the transformation. According to James Meadowcroft, creating and implementing different public policies, institutions, plans and measures, shaped with effectiveness, efficiency and equity will promote mitigation of, and adaptation to, human induced climate change.

Presence of good leaders, officials and legislators will initiate good climate change governance. The government can do something like creating strategic policy frameworks, setting up governance innovations that would change the patterns of productions and consumptions and so as the development and deployment of technologies. Public Administration’s task is to build greater public awareness and understanding of the importance of climate change adaptation.

Public participation and responsiveness is very essential in addressing climate change. The government must educate the public about climate change and the consequences that we are all facing because of it. Public awareness must be present for all these to happen. Public administrators then begin to set up appropriate organizational responses- considering the national interest of the Philippines. There are many policy options for promoting climate change mitigation. The government has to analyze the most appropriate strategy and pursue most vigorously the measures that address the country’s economic, social and environmental goals.


For the very first time in the history, every country is faced with a common threat that is likely to trigger humanity and other forms of life and Public Administration has a significant role in climate change adaptation and mitigation.


*References:
Meadowcroft, James (2009). “Climate Change Governance.” World Bank Policy Policy Research Working Paper No. 4941.
Rabin, Eds Jack, Handbook of Public Administration. 1989: Marcel Dekker, NY. p. iii

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

by
Karlo James Diaz
BA Public Administration
National College of Public Administration and Governance
University of the Philippines-Diliman

What is the role of Public Administration in climate change adaptation and mitigation? The question can be dissected into two parts. On one hand is the expression of the need for climate change adaptation and mitigation and on the other is the presentation of a subject capable of coordinating conformity and compliance to formulated and accepted methods on carrying both about.

With climate change, the very cycles in nature are disturbed and restructured. The general rule of thumbs is for its inhabitants to develop ways of either adapting to the changes or trying to minimize the rate of change and altogether preventing it or the mixture of both. How this would be uniformly imbibed throughout a locale becomes a point of concern.

The state is the instrument for which social order is derived and accepted norms are upheld. It is the organization obligated to deliver basic services to alleviate social ills and secure the welfare of its denizens whether to maintain the status quo or institutionalize deviations from a familiar pattern of living. It is the perfect device for the purposes of the advocacy.

Public Administration is how the implementation could be concretized and in order to survive this global threat that is climate change, it must be properly utilized stretching the imagination to its limits and using its concepts in the most beneficial manner. Governance for example requires the participation of the government, the private sector, and the civil society in a harmonized manner. Research in the sciences and technologies and the assimilation of values are necessary to reach the ends.

Concrete examples in this execution include the engaged commitment of leaders to the cause and creation of political bodies specifically designed for climate change adaptation and mitigation, shift of paradigm from using traditional energy sources to alternative sources of energy and putting a premium on using eco-friendly technology. It is important to stress that climate change is not a phantasm concept and that its dangers are serious and not just products of the minds of overly imaginative theoretical scientists.

Readily dismissed as a foregone conclusion, the inevitable increase in the earth’s temperature due to the continuing rise of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere warrants the shift in archetype of policies by the government through Public Administration in a two-pronged manner which is adaptation to the problem and efforts on its mitigation. Before reaching an international resolution regarding climate change which is a very tasking endeavor, nations within their selves must realize their own strategic policy framework with the interest of the people they serve in mind.

Forum on REDD+ and Corruption in the Environment Sector

The Center for Policy and Executive Development (CPED) of the U.P. National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG) invites everyone to attend its Forum on "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and Corruption in the Environment Sector" on Wednesday, 15th December 2010, 1 to 5PM at the Case Room of the UP-NCPAG Building, Diliman Campus, Quezon City. See you all at the REDD+ and Anti-Corruption Forum!

Speakers:
1. Dr. Bernd-Markus Liss - "REDD+ and Governance Issues"
GTZ Principal Advisor
DENR-BMU REDD Project

2. Ms. Marlea P. Munez - "REDD+ and Corruption"
President
Women's Initiatives for Society, Culture and Environment, Inc.

3. Atty. Daniel M. Nicer - "DENR's Anti-Corruption and Integrity Agenda"
Assistant Secretary
Administrative Reforms and Anti-Corruption Measures
Department of Environment and Natural Resources

4. Dr. J. Prospero E. de Vera III - "The Anti-Corruption Agenda of the Aquino Administration"
Professor and Director
Center for Policy and Executive Development, UP-NCPAG

Moderator: Dr. Ebinezer R. Florano

Community-Based Vulnerability Assessment for Climate Adaptation

By Vangie Padilla on Sep 25th, 2010
Source: PangalaTALK.com - Pangasinan's Finest News Source
http://www.pangalatalk.com/newscontent.php?ShowNews=409

A workshop on "Community-Based Vulnerability Assessment for Climate Change Adaptation" for the city was conducted last September 20 by undergraduate students in public administration of the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG) at the Product Center in Poblacion Oeste here.

The workshop sought to draw up and share prevalent issues on climate change adaptation measures. Participants were appraised on various climate change-related disasters that have hit Dagupan for the last 30 years, including their types, frequencies, magnitudes, and damages. Department of the Interior and Local Government Officer Rhoderick Dawis provided the participants inputs on the frequency, magnitude and damages the city suffered from the 1990 earthquake, while City Health Officer Leonard Carbonell presented the climate change adaptation measures of Dagupan.

Based on the students’ output, Dagupan will be greatly vulnerable to great floods, earthquake and storm surges by the time the effect of global warming peaks ten years from now. Professor Ebinezer R. Florano, assistant professor of the UP NCPAG said, "People have the right to be informed on the possible ramifications of climate change to local situations especially on the people’s main source of livelihood here, the fishponds."

"The people need not be afraid but they have to be prepared," said Florano. In his message, City Administrator Vladimir T. Mata said for the program to succeed, "we need to change the mindset of our people so they will learn to accept the program." He cited the mayor’s main program anchored on his inaugural message that Dagupan is 'our city, our shared responsibility'," The city will be provided with a copy of the report on the workshop, which will be used in the city's risk estimation and valuation. (CIO – Joseph C. Bacani)

GOOD NEWS!: DOLE to launch campaign for green workers

By Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)
Updated November 22, 2010 12:00 AM
Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=632362&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is soon coming out with a program to generate not only productive but also environment-friendly workers.

Ciriaco Lagunzad III, executive director of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), said they are set to launch tomorrow the “Green My Enterprise (Green ME)” program.

Lagunzad said the program would utilize green productivity technologies to achieve higher levels of workers’ productivity and better environmental performance.

He said the program, to be pilot-tested in the different regions next year, aims to train workers in micro, small, and medium enterprises on environment-friendly technologies.

“Green productivity must start with the workers by reducing the adverse effects of climate change,” he said.

According to Lagunzad, the NWPC, together with the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards, also plans to coordinate with other government agencies to obtain inputs and expertise on the productivity program.

The Asian Productivity Organization, the leading advocate of productivity in Asia, has defined green productivity as a strategy which combines the appropriate technology and environmental management tools, techniques and technologies that reduce the environmental impact of an organization’s activities, products, and services while enhancing profitability and competitive advantage.

The NWPC’s green productivity techniques range from simple housekeeping to designing green products, from process modification to waste management and energy efficiency measures.

“As an advocacy, the DOLE bats for green workplaces and the creation of green jobs,” said Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, as she noted that climate change also affects the world of work.

She said DOLE has intensified its efforts to address climate change with the adoption of programs such as the advocacy for green jobs.