The Climate Change as a Perturbing Social Issue

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By MAJOR TOM | October 6, 2009

The vast devastation wrought about by Typhoon Ondoy had left one lasting impression on us about climate change, as the enormous amount of rainfall that was left off by the now infamous tropical storm signaled the onset of a more cataclysmic scenario about our weather, and of our environment as whole.

There lies now the singular question: Is Mother Earth Now at the Brink of Extinction?

Is humanity’s existence threatened by these evolving circumstances especially that of global warming and climate change?

For certain, the specter of global warming is now more real than ever, a truth to be told like the sun in the sky, first as a doubtful phenomenon, even just merely a few years ago, yet now as a universal truth.

With this realization, citizens of the world should all be made aware and be conscious about the nature and implications of climate change, and most importantly governments should start addressing this issue just as any other salient social issue --- current and perturbing --- and every entity should heed and follow the directions towards minimizing its harmful effects, just like perhaps crimes in the streets, drug addiction, graft and corruption, housing or health concerns.

In actuality, it is of note that climate change as a weather phenomenon had already been happening even for millions of years and of ages ago, where the earth have already had numerous steep climate shifts so many times before, having had very cold environment during the so called Ice Ages in the Paleolithic Age while having very hot and warm weather on Interglacial periods. These radical shifts in weather are said to be as a result of the Earths changing position and distance away from the sun at any given period, having lengthened modifications in the so-called Equinox of the Earth in relation to the sun.

In fact, it was because of these shifts in climate that pre-historic humans were compelled to roam away from their natural habitat, as weather changes in those ages affects supply of food (herds migrating, vegetation disappearing), thus, the providing the basis for the scientific phenomenon of the human diaspora in pre-historic times.

An innate occurrence such as volcanic eruptions are events that could actually change the Earth’s temperature in a very radical manner, and in a very different way, as sulfur dioxides released into the atmosphere by these eruptions lowers global temperature and acts as a cooling effect, albeit provisionally.

Thus, the phenomenon of climate change is not actually an absolutely new observable fact that the Earth is facing as it had been actually happening to the earth many centuries and eons ago, through cycles of Ice Ages and Interglacial Periods, at times covering almost the entire Earth surface with ice while at other times it were heated deserts and barren plains that had dominated.

However, it is a notable circumstance that the ensuing weather alterations today are mostly due to human activities, anthropogenic in character, as against the entirely natural causes of climate changes in the past. It is unprecedented in this manner.

Waste and fumes expelled into the atmosphere resulting from the highly industrial and modern routine of today’s humanity remains the foremost cause of climate change, exuding enormous amount of carbon dioxide into the environment, trapping hot gases that should have been let-off into space naturally.

Now, it should be pointed out that since the recent version of climate change is almost purely man-made, then it could actually be reversed, of course similarly through man-made methods.

In this line, every citizen should be made aware of these circumstances, that thru collective action, the threat of global warming could be combated and dispelled away completely, by taking every day measures, like disposing garbage properly, not using harmful elements as much as possible, saving on power, and preserving natural resources. Governments on one hand should implement laws and infrastructure towards this end and execute them rigorously, such as in urban planning, an effective drainage system for one, prevention of deforestation, ban on the use of harmful chemicals, etc. --- thereon treating climate change as among the most pressing social concern that the society is facing today.

Earth Hour Is Coming

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By MAJOR TOM | March 26, 2009

My car’s air-conditioning bogged down and I had to commute on a tricycle this morning to attend commencement ceremonies at the University. Usually, I would romp up with the little sturdy car even if the cooling system is not working, especially if I have to drive in the morning or late afternoon, when the air is not so heated up; but lately, I’ve gotta to let it go for the daytime heat has just gotten so extremely unbearable. I do not know if it is just me or it is just the weather but really, something is really happening with the weather nowadays. I do not mean to spread some form of mass chaos and anxiety but almost everybody who’s been reading current events knows what I mean, the threat of global warming and the so-called greenhouse effect is becoming more and more patent as days come by. I remember that a year ago, even if the air-conditioning is down in the car, I wouldn’t sweat so much. But now, the heat has become some sort of violent and so stinging that I could feel it somehow eating into my skin and through my bones. I would almost look up[ heavenwards and ask the Great One up there, as to why oh why the sun is so extremely hot nowadays, could He please allow a better climate while I drive?

Of course, the Great One above wouldn’t really listen to my pleas.

Now this unkind situation---the one with the heat and driving without an air-conditioning system in my car---has just reminds me of the more and more global clamor for climate awareness as Earth Hour, the annual event to mark the specter of an ever-changing world, changes towards downward in terms of environmental condition on our planet, would be observe this coming Saturday, in order to encourage every soul there is out there, to please be aware of the growing hazards of global warming and that we all should be one in trying our darnest to counter such eminent threat, that is, by being responsible in our own daily lives, and dutiful enough to avoid environmentally-hazardous activities and thereon try to live an alternative daily routine, one that is not threatening Mother Earth, but preserving it.

The Bali Climate Deal: Will Things Work Out This Time Around?

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By MAJOR TOM | December 16, 2007

Well, I hope so. For certain, any wide agreement to curb global carbon emission is the welcomest treaty at this time, when hints of a destabilizing global environment are ever persistent. Super-typhoons, receding forest, melting polar ice, increased earth temperature, and smog in every major city in the world---these are signs and symptoms that could not easily be rebuffed. Perhaps, even America could not stay blind to the impending environmental catastrophe that now, it becomes a very active propeller of this most recent climate deal being sponsored by the United Nation, as the Kyoto Protocol is about to expire on 2012 (without fulfilling the desired).

In 1997, the united States have dissuaded from signing the Kyoto Protocol having been not in agreement with the amount of emission reduction that it had prescribed. This time around, the deadline is set further towards 2050, farther and longer in period, but the emission reduction rate would be far more substantial, somewhere around 40 to 50 percent of the current level.

Would this ever be possible? Having about 40% lesser carbon in the air than we have now? Would this be possible without sacrificing the need for industrial growth and wider transportation use that would be attendant at that future time?

The only manner that this could be possible is if technological advancement in power sourcing would be had in great strides right now and in such a short period of time thence, like the sustainable institution of such alternative renewable energy source like wind and solar energy systems, and hydrogen cells in most transport vehicle by then. Simply put, in order that such amount of reduction could ever be attained 40 years from now, world’s use of fossil fuel or petroleum should be radically curbed. (I can almost sense how OPEC would react on this turgid aim to agree on carbon reduction by most participants in the Bali climate meet).

Be as it may seem, any agreement to curb carbon emissions would be the most positive thing that could result. And with the active participation of the United States around---hopefully with more commitment than ever before---then the climate deal would be on the right track. It is hoped that other highly-industrialized nations like Japan, China and EU could follow America’s interest on this.

Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

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By MAJOR TOM | October 12, 2007

This must be the sweetest moment for former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, winning the world’s most sought after award with the Nobel Peace Prize that was just handed to him hours ago on TV, sharing it with the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It feels so much like the accumulation of all his efforts to bring towards general awareness the climate crisis that once everybody thought to be just mindless rhetoric and nothing more. Thanks to Al Gore, every thinking individual is more aware now of global warming than ever before, and every aggregation---from APEC to ASEAN to EU---sees this issue as very urgent and ultimately significant.

Right about the time he had made and released the highly-acclaimed documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”, he was just then merely seen as one among many who has something to rant about, a voice in the wilderness, and were it not for his stature as a man formerly holding a very high position in the most powerful country in the world, he would have not had a reasonable audience, for by the way, what’s global warming? What’s the meaning of greenhouse gasses? What’s the fuzz about carbon emissions? It was such a boring and tedious topic to discuss and be interested in at that time.

But now, things have changed. Everyone’s talking about climate change and in fact it’s one of the most talked about issue in the international socio-political scene nowadays. And Mr. Gore had been the one single force that drives this great progress in environmental awareness.

Once, he was like Noah hearing God’s voice to hurry up and build a very huge boat. Now everyone listens to him. And perhaps, if every soul takes the warnings with enough seriousness, then we may not need another Noah boat.

Al Gore: Doing What He Does Best

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By MAJOR TOM | July 7, 2007

As of this moment, the Australian segment of the Live Earth concert had just kicked-off and among those to perform is one of my most fave rock band of all time, Crowded House. The news had gathered that tens of thousands of participants have shown up in various venues around the globe in order to partake and witness this very historic event that aims to create global awareness on global warming and the negating effect it brings or has already brought to our environment. Looks like it is bound to be one successful giant event and therefore a great feat for its organizers.

Al Gore must be feeling so pleased as of this moment, savoring this latest achievement. We, who are concerned so much of our environs, could might as well be thanking the high heavens for letting Al Gore lose his presidential bid some years ago and then having a weak nomination bid for the Democratic Party standard-bearer just recently. While some said that his extraordinary effort in combating or publicizing the effects of greenhouse gasses to our atmosphere---winning an Oscar in fact for “Inconvenient Truth”--- he deserves all the more to be president of the United States of America. But if he was in Washington D.C., he would possibly have no choice but to protect the economic interest of America and push back any call for reduction of industrial emission; for this would surely make American industries all the more uncompetitive against rising industrial giants like China and India, as well as perennial rivals in Japan and Europe. So it would be good if he were not president. This way, he won’t be tied to any political interest and could decide and act more appropriately. This way, he’d be doing what he does best and be so effective in it.

In initiating anti-global warming activities like Live Earth, Mr. Al Gore is surely in his ocean, in the air that he breathes best. With this, I give my most heartfelt salute to Mr. Gore. I had not always been a fan, especially years back when he was just a seemingly stoic and one-sided politician; but now, he shows what he really can do and what he can achieve.

What’s In A Fish?

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By MAJOR TOM | June 11, 2007

I’ve just caught my eye on this headlined article about the recent plan of the European Union to curtail or even impede the fishing of bluefin tuna in the european side of the Atlantic and towards the Mediterranean seas where most of them actually thrive.

This move is apparently the result of environmentalists’ reports that stocks of the highly-priced tuna specie is fast dwindling and would soon be extinct if fishing for such would not be drastically brought down to unprecedented (low) levels.

Tsk..tsk…we used to worry solely of dolphins and whales disappearing from our seas, (along with for-rich-only sturgeons in the Black Sea) but now, the luscious tuna would soon be on our list. Statistics shows that bluefin may not be the only tuna specie that would be at risk of extinction but also the more prevalent ones like the yellowfin and skipjack, two species that the Philippines is a major exporter of---about half-a-billion dollars worth of shipment to the United States and Japan.

In a year, the entire catch of tuna reaches nearly 3 Million tons and with such gargantuan magnitude, environmentalists from the WWF sees intense overfishing and cries out the need for a general limit to fishing quotas across the globe.

I wonder if this present tuna debacle would soon affect the rack prices of my favorite Century Tuna's over at my favorite grocery store just a block away. Over the years, I have seen the steady rice of canned tuna to nearly double of what it had cost some five years ago. It used to be around somewhere 17 bucks per pop but now, it can go as high as 30 pesos. I often squirm seeing those ever-changing white sticker price tags pasted on them tuna cans.

I could say that I am a tuna fanatic and I want to eat it uncooked, with chunks and chunks of it dipped in savory oil or brine, and steamy rice on the side. Forget about chickenjoys or mcburgers, but when I feel the need for real hearty meal, I’d just be hiking off to that grocery store I had mentioned above and eat to my heart’s delight.

An uncle once told me that in America, tunas are merely consumed as cat food. I wonder if this is true. Do you think that American cats are so privileged kind that them mewwing lots had made Uncle Sam as this nation’s number one importer of tuna products? I don’t think so.

Apparently, the ever-growing demand for Japanese concoctions called sushi and sashimi are behind the present overfishing issue of tunas from the world’s ocean. Japan consumes nearly a quarter of the world’s tuna catch.

Japanese appetite for raw fish now not only becomes responsible for the whale extinction scare, but also of the present threat to tuna’s dwindling stock in the seas.

Tsk..tsk..all I can say is that “God save the tuna in our seas”.

Would You Believe Pinoys Are Most Aware Of Global Warming?

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By MAJOR TOM | March 8, 2007

Initially after I read the subheadings in the Philippine Daily Inquirer frontpage of yesterday's issue (March 7, 2007), I just couldn’t believe my eyes and I have to re-read it at least twice after that. The article placed in the right corner of the paper announced how the very credible international consumer survey company AC Nielsen, in its report “Online Consumer Opinion Survey”, collated results that shows that Filipinos who have access to Internet has the highest awareness rating on the issue of global warming. Yes, Filipinos topped the survey conducted among online users from 47 countries, with over 25,000 users covered. This is entirely relevant to us since this should show that in actuality, Filipinos are generally knowledgeable about Internet use and had been using it in a very useful manner. Awareness of environmental issues makes it all the more pleasant where despite its urgency as a social issue, global warming is to me the least understood among the problems that hound the world today. War in Iraq and weather catastrophes are issues that should top recognizance among the general population, around the world, but topics such as global warming often takes a backseat, mostly because its so technical and scientific in nature and the every John and Jane wouldn’t have much time to ponder about. Remember what they say about short attention span.

Maybe one can imagine how it would go if people on the streets are to be asked about the subject of global warming spontaneously; to be sure we’d get funny faces and empty stares.

I would have expected Americans to be most rationally aware of global warming, with Al Gore having had a very popular run with his campaign againts it, through a popular documentary and frequent public speeches on this subject. Or even Europeans whose icy weather could be most radically affected if the onset of global warming strengthens in the future.

Yet, the online Filipino can claim to be surfers and readers of significant subjects online, and not merely the usual stuff individuals often dig in the net, like social networking and pornographic materials.

I think this is an achievement in every sense.