Global Warming's Warning

For the past few years, there have been many times that I experienced a blazing hot afternoon and then a storm-like rain accompanied by deafening thunders and lightning just before dusk until the evening, creating a freezing morning the next day. Although this event is quite normal for some of the months here in the Philippines, it is nothing but unusual to experience a headache due to the extreme heat in the afternoon and then a chilly morning. This occurrence signifies that nowadays, extreme weather conditions can take place that fast.

While doing this paper (Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008), it has been raining in my hometown for a few days now, but there is no typhoon actually. And as expected, parts of our town are flooded again. During strong typhoons, the water level of the Cagayan River rises to meters in just a few minutes because Magat Dam in Isabela cannot contain the water from the mountains anymore and so they have no choice but to release some of the water rather than damage the dam. Since our house is located near the river, I myself saw the water level rise many times and even one time up to our backyard fence. During a strong typhoon, a large part of our town is being flooded and causes great damage on crops thus affecting the lives of many farmers in our town as a whole. One more event worth mentioning is that a newly constructed overflow bridge near us collapsed during a strong typhoon years ago.

The documentary film ‘Signos’, though quite similar to ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ by Al Gore, focuses on the implications of Global Warming here in the Philippines in the perspective of Filipino’s themselves. Upon watching this film, I realized that we should not be blaming industrialized countries for Global Warming because all of us, in one or more ways, are contributing to Global Warming. It is a fact that not enough information is disseminated among Filipinos about Global Warming and how to minimize their contribution to it. The government should make this step first, before it becomes too late. Without the action of the government and without laws being implemented, a great number of Filipinos will remain ignorant about this matter. And it is such a disappointing fact that some people tend to be apathetic when it comes to environmental matters, as if they won’t be affected someday.

While answering the Ecological Footprint Quiz at myfootprint.org, I realized that everything we do in our day-to-day life increases our carbon footprint. The use of electricity, the way we transport, the way we cook our food, the way we do our laundry, the kind of food we eat, etc. contributes to our carbon footprint. Before, I didn’t realize that even the smallest activities in human life triggers the increase of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. I also realized that environmentally concerned NGO’s play an important role in the conservation of life here on Earth. With the passion of the people behind these organizations, they are helping citizens help themselves by creating a more sustainable environment to live in and an environment capable of sustaining life for the next generations. Before, I thought that these NGO’s are only organized by some greedy people to get money and return nothing in the end, but I proved myself wrong. We cannot deny the fact that these organizations need money for their projects. And with the help of good-hearted people, their projects become a success in one or more ways.

With time running out, I myself, as an individual should make the most out of it before it becomes too late. Conserving energy is the main step that comes into my mind if I think of ‘what can I do’ about this matter. Walking instead of riding the jeepney, following the 3-R- reuse, reduce, recycle, turning off unused electrical appliances, using biodegradable materials, throwing waste properly, conserving water usage, helping in dissemination of public campaigns, etc. are just some of the things that I can do. Even if I didn’t have the position and the power to influence these to part of the society, these small things when added up, really makes a difference. Doing such sets an example- a model to other people, particularly for fellow Filipinos to follow.