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"Signos: Banta ng
nagbabagong klima"
Published October 22, 2008 4:29pm
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Climate change can cause a lot of bad effects for the Philippines. There are
already many natural disasters happening to the Philippines such as volcano
eruptions and earthquakes. With the ice caps melting and sea levels getting
higher, there is a larger possibility of floods that could destroy villages and
the homes of many animals.
Last year, I think it was mid-July, Tullahan Bridge which connects Malabon and
Valenzuela collapsed following a heavy rain. And it was not solely about the cracks on the
bridge, for it was built many years ago, but because of garbage. When the typhoon came in
Metro Manila, it produced vast floods in many areas including the CaMaNaVa district. This area
always experiences flood because of below-sea-level land, inefficient drainage systems causing
garbage to clog. As a result, bulks of trash, together with the extreme flood due to continuous
rainfall, hit the low-lying connection and broke it apart. The next day, vehicles going in and out
of Valenzuela were stranded. They built 2 footbridges at the sides so commuters can pass
through. Since then, I really had a bad time walking almost 2kms just to take a bus and go to
school. If you ask how much wastes could be enough to smash a bridge, try to see the places
around Tullahan, and realize that its not hard. This is mainly because of throwing and dumping
garbage in the rivers vicinity. If you walk around, you will encounter streets always have trash
around theirs corners. People still put their litters even if they see mounts of them. It happens
everyday, since the bridge broke until the new one if built. Its almost a year but people tend to
ignore. Everyday, as the bus Im riding passes the bridge; I always notice that there are still junks
floating in the river or stacked up on the side. Its just disappointing to think that those people
near the rivers dont know how to dispose their wastes properly.
One doesnt need to watch documentaries like Signos for him to understand and realize
what global warming is all about. But this would give a little help of disseminating information
to the people. After watching this film, I realized that residents discipline is still a prerequisite
for preventing global warming. Being responsible of what you are doing and contributing to the
environment is good to know, this will make you realize of the larger impacts as a whole.
You could make big change out of small things. We can downgrade the rapid increasing
of global temperature. Aside from the little things Richard said, there are also minor things you
could accomplish on your own. Avoid using too much plastic and styrofoams. Have you realized
that using straws is useless? You are just adding another non-biodegradable waste in the
environment. And as UP Haring Ibon member, Im expected to make a stand for nature. Why not
join an environmental organization? Im not inviting you to join UP HI, but this is also a good
step for contributing good examples for our planet. Moreover, making advocacies pro for the
environment lessen harmful effects in the surroundings. There are several options that require
effort and sacrifice, consuming less meat means less emission of carbon dioxides in the
atmosphere, according to some vegetarians. See, it doesnt force a person to make a big action to
sustain a living planet; its a matter of choice and knowing its outcomes. All you have to do is
make a move, for the better and not for worst.
First day in the morning, I always complain to myself, "Ang lamig naman! Hirap gumising ng maaga..." After
a few hours, the weather suddenly becomes warm. "My goodness! Ang init...parang hindi umaga..." Then,
after twelve noon, temperature rises exponentially(...exaggerated..). "Wow! Sobrang init pare!!" Finally, a
couple of hours later, rain falls. "Shocks! 'Yung payong ko nakalimutan ko..." And that's a day with me and the
weather.
Those accounts may seem familiar every day I wake up. Changing temperatures, sudden rainfall, very hot
afternoons and cold early mornings - these scenes had not been existed since I was a kid. When I heard of
the terms "El Nio" and "La Nia" for the first time, I really don't care at that time. I was thinking of having
my classes everyday, so that I could finish on the right track. I just care of having a great time with my
friends during summer vacations. But as days, months, and years pass, things look so different when I look
around me.
My teachers told me that a phenomenon is happening to our beloved Earth as we enter 21st century. They
call it global warming. This was caused by too much greenhouse gases produced by several factors factories, vehicles, burning of plastic materials, and others - rising on the atmosphere. These gases create
an "envelope" that surrounds the Earth, trapping too much heat coming from the sun.
One of the effects created by global warming is obviously the changing of weather, and climate in general. It
was shown in a documentary film "Signos: Banta ng Nagbabagong Klima" that I watched last week. According
to it, as temperature would continiuously increase, icebergs will drastically melt, creating an increase of six
meters in sea level. That could be disastrous for our country, especially that most of the islands here are
almost at sea level, including Metro Manila.
That thought alone opened my eyes to what they call environmental awareness. Maybe another thousand
years, the Earth could become a "hot" planet if we continue to emit greenhouse gases the destroys the
atmosphere that protects us from excessive heat coming from the sun. Because of climate change, other
effects recently becomes evident, such as longer and hotter droughts during summer and shorter but
stronger rainy season, that caused destruction to properties and lives of the people.
During summer vacation, our family usually goes to my father's province, La Union. Everyday, I see many
children swimming and diving on rivers while their parents wash their clothes on the same location. Even me
and my father would go fishing for our lunch. It was nice to see such sight, that I would always do it
everytime we went there. But unfortunately, the rivers that we went became dry. Only large rocks remained
on the site, it looked like the riverbed that was before. It was bad to see such thing. I remembered while
watching the film, the town of Bauang, La Union was in danger of being washed out because of rising water
from the sea. Although visited by many tourists for surfing adventures, Bauang seemed to be affected by the
climate change that is also happening around the country.
I remembered how Richard Gutierrez, the narrator of the film, shared his ideas on how to reduce the effects
of global warming by doing simple things everyday. For example, recycling a portion of our wastes generated
by us would help to minimize carbon emissions from burning wastes, especially plastics. Another is that using
compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs means conserving at least a quarter of energy used as compared to
incandescent light bulbs.
As of today, reducing greenhouse emissions takes very slow progress, compared to the increase of those
gases during the last thirty years. Although the Kyoto Protocol was established to help reduce greenhouse
gases, it is still not enough just to produce such laws. Actions speak louder than words, as they say.
Evereyone of us should start taking their roles as protectors of our Mother Earth. Planting trees should be a
good start, since they need carbon dioxide to produce food and oxygen for other living things. Some of us
use bicycles as their means of transportation, an efficient and environment-friendly way of decreasing
greenhouse gases.
Someday, our efforts to save our environment will not be wasted. Future generations will come to see what
our Earth will look like at its best - clean and green.