Philippines Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change

The Philippines is no stranger to the impacts of global warming. From rising sea level to catastrophic events such as super typhoon Haiyan, the Philippines has been taking steps to adapt to this on going crisis. One method being a natural rainfall management which includes water impounding dams and evaporation. This would be and has been a significant help to the country as it has been predicted that they will experience an increase in precipitation. The Philippines has also developed the process of cropping pattern adjustment according to the onset of the rainy season and observed frequency of tropical cyclones. This would include but not be limited to: dissemination to farmers as well as timely provisions of far weather services/advisories, and early warning systems.

This photo is from: Here

One thing that I found interesting was that Asia has an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) which provides an effective protection strategy to promote sustainable manage of coastal zones such as: fisheries, coral reefs, pollution, megacities, and individual coastal systems. One of them in the Batangas Bay of the Philippines which has been successfully applied for prevention and control. (IPCC)

This photo is from: Here

The Philippines ratified the Kyoto Protocol on November 20, 2003 and entered the force February 16, 2005. Being a non-annex 1 country, they were not required to reduce their anthropogenic emissions of global gasses. Although the Philippines did not have any responsibilities under the Kyoto Protocol, they still have taken steps in mitigating climate change.

In 1999, the Philippines developed the Philippines Energy Plan (PEP) that enforced: 1) Security of energy supply, which aims to avoid energy supply disruptions, 2) Affordable and reasonable prices which means ensuring energy supply at the lowest cost, and 3) Socially and environmentally compatible energy infrastructures and projects, which is the provision of cleaner energy. Along with the PEP there were 12 other energy programs, one of them being the Heat Rate Improvement of Power Plants (HRIP) which aimed at enhancing the operational efficiency of nearly 380 power plants. This was projected to result in energy savings of close to 4100 million barrels of fuel oil equivalent! (UNFCCC)

I personally believe that the Philippines should both mitigate and adapt to climate change. Although the country is not a huge contributor to the crisis it does not mean that they, and other countries should not make efforts to reduce climate change. And since it is apparent that climate change is a global issue I would strongly advise that the Philippines continue adapting so that it will be able to withstand to some degree  the devastating events such as super typhoon Haiyan and other disasters to come in the future.

Climate Change Impacts

Climate change is inevitable. With all of the urbanization and industrialization, as well as an increase of economic development it is evident as to why our planet is experience an increase in temperature. In regards to Asia it is predicted that the continent will receive warming similar to the global mean warming of 2.5 degrees celsius. Warming throughout the continent remains relatively constant annually with little seasonal variation. It is predicted that winter as well as summer precipitation will increase as well as evidence towards a likely increase in tropical cyclone intensity will occur however less consistency about how the occurrence will change.

These climate changes will cause many impacts worldwide, in particular to Asia, glacier melt from the Himalayas is projected to increase flooding, rock avalanches, and affect water resources. Freshwater availability will become scarce and will threaten substance development of the many developing countries continent wide. Crop yields could see an increase of up to 20% in East and South-East Asia, and potentially lose up to 30% in Central and South Asia. This will increase the risk of hunger as well as endemic morbidity and mortality due to diarrheal disease brought on by the predicted increase of droughts and floods.

This photo is from: Here

Increased riverine, coastal and urban flooding due to changes in the hydrological cycle and global warming will leave the continent vulnerable to damaged infrastructure, livelihoods, and settlements. Extreme precipitation, damaging cyclone, and an increase in sea level have already taken they’re toll on the Philippines this last year after Haiyan swept through the country. Asia is also projected to experience an increase of heat mortality due to the warming trend and extreme temperatures brought on by global warming. Because of the extreme temperatures the continent also faces an increase of drought and floods as mentioned early, which could lead to malnutrition.

(Satellite image of category 5 tropical cyclone Haiyan. This photo is from: Here)

So what can be expected of Asia in the years to come due to climate change? Warming trends and increasing temperature extremes as well as an increase of precipitation will potentially cause water scarcity due to an increase water demand and poor management. Food production and security will vary due to droughts and flooding, as well as a decrease in productivity. As observed terrestrial systems have adapted to the recent changes in climate through migration, etc. A continuation of stress cause by increasing urbanization, industrialization, and economic development. And an overall impact on human health, security, livelihoods, and poverty throughout Asia.

Being that I am half filipino and a lot of my family live in the Philippines all of these threats, the future of Asia, truly concerns me. Witnessing the devastation of tropical cyclone Haiyan, the intensity of the cyclone and cyclones to come is definitely the most interesting threat to me. With winds of 195 mph, Haiyan was said to be the most powerful tropical cyclone in history to reach land. Global warming will be an ongoing issue I am definitely curious to see how much more intense tropical cyclones will be as well as other natural forces due to climate change.

The Philippines Contribution to Climate Change

The Philippines CO2 emissions from 1907-1949 were relatively low. It was not until 1950 that we see a huge spike in CO2 emissions. This potentially corresponds with the U.S. military fleets that were stationed in the Philippines due to the Korean and Vietnam War. In comparison to the U.S. emissions of 4.7 per capita, the Philippines most recent per capita of 0.25 in 2008 is about 5% of the U.S., significantly lower. There is a various amount of reasons for this, one of them being that close to half of the population of the Philippines still lives in rural areas where industrialization is not as apparent.

The Philippines is ranked 156 out of 216 based on per capita CO2 emissions whereas the U.S. is ranked 12. Being that I am half Filipino and have a large amount of family living there this makes me feel really good about the Philippines.

Compared to the other countries on the graph above, the Philippines is the only one that is incredibly low and constant. There appears to be an overall increase in emissions in 1960 which was around the time of the Vietnam war. As of 2010 China was the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. Comparing the U.S. to China, on a per capita basis, a Chinese citizen would be more at fault for emitting C02.

The Philippines Keeling Curve graph is not similar in shape to that of the Global Emissions of Carbon graph as the Keeling Curve shows an constant increase and  the Global Emissions of Carbon graph remains constant then suddenly spikes in the year 1945. Emissions are different from concentrations because an emission is the amount of pollutant released in the atmosphere from a specific pollutant source, whereas a concentration is the amount of pollutant matter in the atmosphere per volume unit.