Global warming could sink Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Global warming and climate change threaten to submerge and wipe out the whole of Cebu by 2020, the chairman of Typhoon Committee Foundation, warned, as he called for the public to be aware of drastic effects of calamities that may hit Philippines, specifically Cebu.

Angeo Palmones, chairman of the Typhoon Committee Foundation, Inc. revealed this during yesterday’s Forum-Orientation on Typhoon, Flood, and Climate Change held at the Cebu Institute of Technology Auditorium.

The gathering was in coordination with Department of Science and Technology Region 7 and Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Mamamayan (AGHAM) and was participated in by students from various universities in Cebu.

Palmones, a professor of University of the Philippines Diliman, and the co-founder and first president of the Philippine Science Journalists Association, Inc. said that they received a report from Greenpeace Southeast Asia stating that because of the impact of climate change, rise in local sea levels, and receding coastlines could flood and submerge the entire Cebu.

Greenpeace is a non-government organization for the protection and conservation of the environment. Greenpeace uses direct action, lobbying and research to achieve its goals.

“Every area is vulnerable to the destructive impact of climate change and we better get ready for that,” he said.

Palmones added that because of the dramatic melting of the polar ice cap and the melting glaciers and land-based ice sheets, they also contribute to rising sea levels, threatening low-lying areas around the globe with beach erosion, coastal flooding, and contamination of freshwater supplies.

He continued that if bioengineering intervention won’t be implemented, flooding in Cebu will be “unimaginable”.

“The rate of glacier ice melting, precipitation, deforestation, and land degradation which causes landslide, soil erosion, and the increased siltation of the river system will contribute to the rise of the water sea level.

He furthered that natural threats such as pollutants will increase the precipitation of water, thus more water are collected, increasing the water sea level.

“It’s a cycle, when you alter the natural resources, there’s in an increase in precipitation and it will cause flooding,” he said.

Palmones told The Freeman that based on the Green peace Southeast Asia report, the top ten provinces vulnerable to one-meter sea level rise are Sulu, Palawan, Zamboanga, Northern Samar, Zamboanga Sibugay, Basilan, Cebu, Davao, Bohol, and Camarines Sur.

The top ten regions which are reportedly to sink are ARMM, Region 9, Region 4B, 8, 5, 7, 6, 11, 4A, and Region 1.

He said that people should not sidestep the issue on global warming and called the people to make global warming more of a personal concern.

“Ang mga tao walang pakialam sa mga masasamang naidudulot ng climate change, at kung darating na ang mga sakuna, wala silang ibang sisisihin kung hindi ang gobyerno,” he retorted.

Palmones concluded that a climate change and global warming should be included in the curriculum in every academic institution.

He also emphasized that planting trees, reforestation, and the lawful compliance of the environmental conservation should be top priorities.

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation.

According to Greenpeace Southeast Asia, in the Philippines, a one-meter rise in sea level, for example, is projected to affect 64 out of 81 provinces. From 1961 to 2003, the waters around the archipelago rose by 1.8 millimeter every year.

A study made by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) also showed that coastal areas in Navotas, Malabon, Cavite, Davao City and Legazpi City sank by 15 centimeters from 1970 to 1999.

The report also stated that other than the Philippines, which is at risk of being swamped by rising levels of seawater as a result of global warming, low-lying areas including Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and India also face catastrophic flooding as polar ice caps may melt far faster under the pressure of global warming. —Marjun A. Baguio, University of Cebu Intern /NLQ   (FREEMAN NEWS)