By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
I was worried some days ago when I noticed that the car was like it was splattered with muddy water . Then I remembered that it rained the day before and that these were rain marks! Meaning these dirt came from the sky? OMG, has our environment become this dirty! This is from the air we are breathing! I theorized that we have exposed so much soil and the earth has become so dry and dusty. Effects of climate change.
Climate is the long-term weather pattern in one area. For example the Philippines has tropical climate while Denmark has a temperate climate and Iceland has polar climate. Cordillera region has a cool climate and Isabela has a warm climate. Climate naturally changes over time at a very slow pace but since the 1950s, scientists are worried that climate change is occurring much faster than before and this change is accelerating. One indicator of climate change is global warming and all of us feel this global warming. When before we would still be wearing sweaters in Sagada in February, at present, we don’t need them any more except for early mornings.
What’s causing this rapid climate change? Humans, definitely. How? Let’s see. Greenhouse gases (GHG) – mainly carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases- are released into the atmosphere and because they have the ability to trap heat, they then increase the earth’s temperature. They act like a plastic cover over the earth and you can imagine how the heat inside. Greenhouse gases are mainly generated by human activity, foremost of which is 1) burning fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas for electricity, heat and transportation. Meaning that every time you ride a jeep or car, you are burning fossil fuel, unless that is an electric car. Other generators of GHGs are 2) Deforestation, caused by logging and forest fires, releases stored carbon in the air, 3) Fertilizer use, livestock production 4) factories 5) manufacture of plastics and burning plastics. Agriculture and road construction and cementing the ground changes the earth’s reflectivity of the earth’s surface leading to local warming or cooling.
Why are we worried about climate change? Because if we don’t decelerate human activities, we will soon exterminate ourselves. Climate change has a domino effect. With climate change, there is a change in ecosystems and change in the quality of our land, water and air- the very basic elements for our survival. Specifically, global warming causes: 1) change in weather patterns and this we all know- extreme weather, super typhoons, heat waves, droughts. 2) air pollution (as shown by the rain marks in the car) – air gets drier, dust forms and more allergenic pollutants such as circulating mold and pollen increase. 3) Rising seas- the ice sheets in the polar region are definitely melting and, of course, low-lying areas will be flooded and coastal ecosystems will be endangered and 4) health risks. There is an increasing number of illnesses and fatalities from heat stress, heat stroke, cardiovascular and kidney disease. Air pollution is a risk factor for respiratory diseases like covid. And another worrying health effect of climate change is the increase of insect-borne diseases like dengue fever. The aedes mosquito that transmits the dengue virus likes warm weather so whereas before we didn’t have dengue fever in the Cordillera mountains, now we have it everywhere. There are many more insect-borne diseases elsewhere and we should be worried because these can hitch ride with tourists. But the greatest danger, I think, to our health is water pollution. We are dumping wastes everywhere, especially plastic wastes, and much of these end up in our oceans. It is predicted that by 2040, the oceans will be so poisoned that we cannot eat anything from there. Scary. Global warming is more dangerous than weapons of mass destruction.
We all are accountable to what’s happening to our environment and as such, we all can do our part to divert from this scary path to mass destruction. Refusing plastic packaging, reusing it and not dumping or burning plastics is the least we can do and we can do this everyday.***
Jeremiah 2:7 “And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.”
