Slow and Steady Start

Valencia, Acer R.

2006 – 17839

Recent abnormalities in our country's climate are said to be the effect of the increasing of earth's temperature also known as global warming. A documentary produced by one of the biggest television network here in the Philippines, aiming to enlighten us on these alarming situations, was aired a couple of months ago. Different calamities were recently experienced by Filipinos all over our country, some were extreme seasonal changes, others experienced devastating floods caused by the unusual heavy rainfalls during the dry season, and some experienced their lands being literally owned by water. A few examples were broadcasted live on televisions, but more of these events weren't. These kinds of show really stir people up to try and understand our current situation. But how well do we really know our current situation?

I could still remember the times back in my home town when my friends and I could still play even during the part of the day when the sun shines directly above our heads. We would ride our bikes and go to the other town and back before it gets dark. The heat of the sun doesn’t really matter back then, even for hours under the clear blue sky, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t hurt. Try to do those things today. From my experience, a walk from our boarding house to a convenience store a few meters away from our gate at noon is a tiresome thing to do. Not because I’m not used to walking, for in UP the most efficient means of transportation from building to building is walking. But because the heat of the sun nowadays, especially during noon does really hurt. It is very irritating like a vampire sucking the life out of you. Of course I’m talking about our country being located near the equator, but the difference in the intensity of the heat back then and now can easily be distinguished. Another abnormality observed nowadays is those summer times when rain is pouring hard on the roof. You can’t even enjoy beach because there’s a storm coming. How it used to be isn’t like this, for when it’s rainy season we don’t experience the hottest temperature for a day, or for when it’s dry season, we don’t lock ourselves up because of a storm. It’s just not the same. A lot of things did contribute to this phenomenon but I would like to strongly point out that the world existed for thousands and thousands of years but it never polluted itself this much. What I’m trying to say is that we are the catalyst of these changes, though we might say that the world is big and that we’re just a bunch of ants compared to its size, our negligence to what we were and currently doing as we can now see really put its mark in history. Scientists said that the one of the major cause of this global warming is the so-called greenhouse gases. Examples of these gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide, and many other gases that trap the heat from the sun that supposedly leaving our earth. This excess heat bounces from the upper layers of the atmosphere back to the earth’s surface, thus making the surface temperature hotter. The gases carbon dioxide, the usual by product of processing plants, and CFC, a common additive to appliances such as air conditioning equipments and refrigerators, are our major contribution to the slow destruction of our precious earth. Though recently announced as an act contributing to global warming, the burning of dried leaves, twigs and other dried organic materials is still widely present in our country, especially in the provinces. We can’t blame them for lacking the information about these things but for us who know better, what are we doing to help lessen the creeping threat to our existence? It’s not enough to blame the government for giving more attention to politics than saving the planet, or blame the large companies for contributing to global warming much much more than we do. As part of the human race and other species that may be endangered if present situation develop for the worst, we as the highest form of animal should know best what to do at this moment of history. Great acts can’t be done once and saving our planet is a very huge task, but if it has to start at something, it should start as simple as turning the lights off if not used.