Climate's Competitor (Aquino, Naguit, Tan, Trinidad)

Oct 8, 2016 by Nicole Jan Trinidad

Humans. This one word that caused a big impact to the world, this one word that changed the world forever, this one word that pertains to us. Climate change has been worsening throughout history. From 1.2 Fahrenheit to 1.4 Fahrenheit warmer. We might hear complaints such as “It’s too hot!” or “There is way too much flood” but we forget that this is mainly because of our ignorance and of our own doing. Many people believe that climate change is caused by non other than us, human beings. But some people say that climate change is not caused by human beings, because who would want to admit that they are the cause of other people’s suffering? Not only people but other living things too and worse, the next generations to come. Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time and it is now more certain than ever.

We were not surprised about results because climate change has been going on for the past centuries and it is still ongoing. The direct consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly evident. Natural systems are undergoing noticeable changes, including alterations in migration patterns and growing seasons. Changes in sea level, changes in ocean temperature and ocean acidification have particularly affected coastal systems. In addition, the increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events have directly affected many communities and put many more at greater risk. Seriously addressing climate change requires a wide range of concerted actions, including innovative mitigation and adaptation solutions and continued research into the mechanics of climate change. Many of these solutions include development and deployment system transformations particularly around energy, land use, waste, water, transportation, manufacturing, and buildings. In the Philippines, the most affected sectors of climate change are agriculture, food security and health. Agriculture and fisheries are highly dependent on the climate. Increase in temperature and carbon dioxide can increase some crop yields in some places. But to realize these benefits, nutrient levels, soil moisture, water availability and other conditions must also be met. Changes in the frequency and severity of droughts and floods could pose challenges for farmers, ranchers and threaten food safety. Climate change can affect human health in two main ways: first, by changing the severity or frequency of health problems that are already affected by climate or weather factors; and second, by creating unprecedented or unanticipated health problems or health threats in places or times of the year where they have not previously occurred. Every Filipino is vulnerable to the health impacts associated with climate change, but some populations will be especially affected. These groups include the poor, some communities of color, immigrant groups, indigenous people, children and pregnant women, older adults, vulnerable occupational groups, people with disabilities, and people with medical conditions.

Moreover, as part of the Environmental Education Class, we were asked to answer the COP21 survey. The questions that are asked in the survey corresponds to your position as a citizen or individual and also the position of your country the Philippines about climate change, practices and many more. Some of the questions are answered by 1-5, 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. Overall, the responses correspond to the position of our country. These are some of the results, the response changes in climate are affecting members of the community got 5 as the highest that got 60% which is true and evident to the people who live and work in the Philippines--basically, all of us. Next, the response to the “My community cares about taking action on climate” got number 3 as the highest and has 9% total responses, which is also true since we don’t “really” take action about climate change. Some political members, support and propose bills in improving the environment but as a nation, we don’t take action about it especially that El Nino, typhoons, and even flood happen and are present in our country. Also, there are organizations that its vision is to improve the environment and support by raising awareness, fundraising by organizing a fun run and even triathlon, or even planting activities. Following, the response on the source of energy are from fossil fuel got 4 as the highest and has 64%, so it shows that most of the source of our energy that we use at home, in school, and in workplaces are from fossil fuel which is a nonrenewable source meaning it cannot be replaced once it is consumed. Then, the response on the disposing of waste responsibly of the community got 3 as the highest and has 48% which shows that we are unsure if we practice disposing waste in a manner. Some of us do not practice the segregation of waste at home or even in other places. However in our school, we practice segregation and disposing our waste in a manner-- biodegradable, non-biodegradable, plastic bottles, and papers. In honesty, the results of the survey are appalling and startling that most of us are really concerned to the environment and aware of the position of the country about climate change. Also, that we are aware of the effects of climate change to us and also to our surroundings such the typhoons and floods that have drastic impact to us.

It is true that humans are the root cause of the problems here on earth when ironically, God created us to be stewards of His creation. The world is slowly getting irrelevant because of our bad habits and wrongdoings towards it. We always vow to help save the environment, but are we really doing so? The happenings around us like extreme flooding, cut-down trees, changes in sea level, polluted oceans leading to ocean acidification, and lots of destruction that I didn’t even know was possible for humans to do. Because of our drastic actions, others are getting affected as well; farmers are having a hard time maintaining their crops due to the massive inconsistency of the temperature, thereby also affecting their lives because how would they earn that small amount of salary without nothing to harvest? It is alarming how we know that climate change is already making an impact on our lives personally and we are still not making actions on how to resolve it. God blessed us with this beautiful and delicate world we live in and we humans still have the audacity to ruin it. I hope that we learn from all the harsh phenomenon in our world because I believe that God made each one of us stewards of His creation. It is now our time to serve well the environment, because mother nature has been serving for us for a very long time now. 

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