Climate Change and Resiliency of Filipinos.

Being an archipelago within the Pacific Ring of Fire and falling within the typhoon belt, the Philippines faces differences and a higher intensity than other countries in facing challenges brought about by climate

change. 

Environmental changes are not isolated incidents but complex, interrelated processes reflecting impacts brought about by global warming and unsustainable human activities. These changes would further facilitate the precarious living conditions of millions of Filipinos, especially the disadvantaged and vulnerable sectors of society. Some of the drivers of such changes in the environment are:

Increasing Numbers and Strength of Natural Disasters

The Philippines has always been typhoon-prone; however, the frequency and the impact are intensifying. Typhoons visit regularly around 20 yearly, and the force has been growing stronger, causing severe flooding, landslides, and destruction to coasts. Ocean warming enhances the available energy in the atmosphere, thus enhancing storms to get stronger. These events leave the people exposed to destruction due to damage done to infrastructure, houses, and crops of agriculture, making the conditions far more vulnerable, especially in coastal and low-lying areas.

Rising Sea Levels

One of the worst threats to many of the coastal communities in the Philippines has been caused by rising sea levels from melting polar ice caps and the thermal expansion of ocean waters. Because of rising tides, thousands of islands and large urban populations in the Philippines are at high exposure risks from flooding, saltwater intrusion into freshwater sources, and displacement of coastal populations. It is a threat to the livelihood of a fisherman, farmer, and tourist worker. Sometimes, whole villages are displaced without support or infrastructure to rebuild their lives.

Deforestation and Land Degradation

Mountainous regions of the Philippines are among one of the main drivers of environmental change through deforestation. Forests work as natural buffers against extreme weather events, absorb rainfall and allow regulation of local climates. Losses associated with natural disasters are therefore increased by loss of these natural areas due to agriculture, mining, or urbanization that tend to make soil more susceptible to erosion and flooding.

Unsustainable agricultural practices also degrade the soil degrading agricultural land productivity, and thus the security of food produced in it.

The country would then be affected by the changing rising temperatures and droughts in the Philippines brought about by climate change. The protracted heating causes crop failures or water shortages and energy stress. Crop staples such as rice, corn, and vegetables are highly responsive to temperature fluctuations and stress caused by water, thus lowering the productivity in agriculture and raising food insecurity in rural communities. The poor, who have usually engaged in rain-fed agriculture, are the most affected because they lack resources to adapt to what increasingly are changing climatic conditions.

Urbanization and Inadequate Infrastructure

In the Philippines, rapid and often uncontrolled urbanization has complicated climate change especially for Metro Manila and other urban local government units. This is how pressure builds up in terms of people flowing in to cities and settlement into flood- prone areas or informal communities which subsequently becomes a challenge. Actually, underdevelopment of drainage systems and lack of sufficient flood control measures place a lot of difficulties on urban populations for frequent flooding and storm surges, while no adequate housing imposes absolute difficulties.

The informal settlers are usually housed in places that are risky to the environment and not properly serviced for basic needs; therefore, those who live in informal settlements tend to be more susceptible to extreme weather conditions.

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Losses

It is considered one of the planets' most biodiverse countries, and tremendous losses have surfaced due to biodiversity loss through human activity and climate change. The increasing ocean temperature and pollution and overfishing destroy the critical protections against storms and erosion by coral reefs, mangroves, and other coastal ecosystems. While these types of ecosystems do reduce resources to local populations, such as fish for food and income, the depletion decreases the natural resilience of coastal communities further, thus exposing them to extreme weather conditions.

The effects of climate change are felt more severely in the Philippines as they cumulate already existing social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities. The impacts particularly fall on marginalized communities, such as residents of informal settlements, rural farmers, and fisherfolk using their scarce resources in trying to adapt to natural disasters at an intensified rate, loss of livelihoods, and displacement.

Resource/s:

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) - for climate reports and data on typhoons, rainfall patterns, and temperature changes.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) - for reports on deforestation, biodiversity loss, and land degradation.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - for global climate change reports, including those that address vulnerable nations like the Philippines.

World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) - for economic and development reports that discuss the socio-economic impact of climate change on the Philippines.