Environmental Issues Impacting Philippine
The Philippines' evident risk to natural disasters is due to its location. Being a country that lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is prone to earthquake and volcanic eruptions. In addition, the country is surrounded by large bodies of water and faces the Pacific Ocean where 60% of the world's typhoons are made. One of the most devastating typhoons that hit the Philippines in 2013 was Typhoon Haiyan, or "Yolanda", that killed over 10,000 people and destroyed over a trillion pesos worth of properties and damage to various sectors. Other environmental problems that the country is facing include pollution, illegal mining and logging, deforestation,dynamite fishing, landslides, coastal erosion, wildlife extinction, global warming and climate change.
Two of the most pressing environmental issues impacting the Philippines is climate change. As an island country located in the Southeast Asia Pacific region, the Philippines is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Some of these impacts include increased frequency and severity of natural disasters, sea level rise, extreme rainfall, global warming, resource shortages, and environmental degradation. All of these impacts together have greatly affected the Philippines’ agriculture, sex, water, infrastructure, human health, and coastal ecosystems and they are projected to continue having devastating damages to the economy and society of the Philippines.
Sustainable Development
Recognizing the need to tackle the environment issues as well as the need to sustain development and growth, the Philippines came up with the Sustainable Development Strategy. The nation for the Sustainable Development Strategy includes assimilating environmental considerations in administration, apposite pricing of natural resources, conservation of biodiversity, rehabilitation of ecosystems, control of population growth and human resources development, inducing growth in rural areas, promotion of environmental education, strengthening citizens’ participation, and promoting small to medium-sized enterprises and sustainable agricultural and forestry practices. One of the initiatives signed in part of the strategy was the 1992 Earth Summit.
Upon signing the 1992 Earth Summit, the government of Philippines has been constantly looking into many different initiatives to improve the environmental aspects of the country.
Environmental Protection
Currently, the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been busy tracking down illegal loggers and been spearheading projects to preserve the quality of many remaining rivers that are not yet polluted.
Future Projections
Future projections for the current trajectory of climate change predict that global warming is likely to exceed 3 degrees Celsius, potentially 4 degrees, by 2060. Specifically in the Philippines, average temperatures are “virtually certain” to see an increase of 1.8 to 2.2 degrees Celsius. This temperature increase will stratify the local climate and cause the wet and dry seasons to be wetter and drier, respectively. Most areas in the Philippines will see reduced rainfall from March to May, while Luzon and Visayas will see increased heavy rainfall. There will also be an increase in: the number of days that exceed 35degree C; that have less than 2.5 mm of rainfall; and that have more than 300mm of rainfall. Additionally, climate change will continue to increase the intensity of typhoons and tropical storms. Sea levels around the Philippines are projected to rise 0.48 to 0.65 meters by 2100, which exceeds the global average for rates of sea level rise. Combined with sea level rise, this stratification into more extreme seasons and climates increases the frequency and severity of storm surge, floods, landslides, and droughts. These exacerbate risks to agriculture, energy, water, infrastructure, human health, and coastal ecosystems.
REFERENCE
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_the_PhilippinesPhilippines
LOREMIE CASTILLO
12 ABM
