Greenpeace warns of more violent weather

December 02, 2006
Updated 17:44:19 (Mla time)
Delfin Mallari Jr.
Inquirer

LUCENA CITY -- As they lamented the loss of lives and the extensive devastation wrought by super-typhoon Reming (international code name Durian) on some parts of the country, the international environmentalist group Greenpeace warned of more violent weather events to come as a dire consequence of the continuing climate change.

"The tragic loss of lives and the massive destruction of properties brought about by the super-typhoon deserve immediate attention and sympathy from the international community. It should also serve as a wake-up call about the need for governments to find ways to avert or mitigate the catastrophic impacts of extreme weather events which scientists predict could become more severe because of climate change,” Abigail Jabines, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said in a statement furnished the Inquirer.

She said: “Scientists say that as global temperatures rise, the intensity of extreme weather events is likely to increase, and it is possible that in the future the impact of these events will become even greater.”

Greenpeace called on all governments worldwide to act decisively and urgently on climate change. The group also called on the Philippine government to invest in renewable energy resources such as solar and wind power "because it is poor countries like the Philippines who bear much of the brunt from such climate impacts.”

Climate change impacts have been manifested in the Philippines by extreme weather occurrences such as floods, droughts, forest fires, and an increase in tropical cyclones.

Greenpeace noted that extreme weather events associated with climate change, and the disasters these have wrought, have caused losses amounting to billions of pesos.

Citing research conducted by Dr. Leoncio Amadore, one of the Philippines’ foremost meteorologists, she said that the Philippine archipelago has already suffered severely from extreme weather events.

According to Jabines, Amadore’s report “Crisis or Opportunity: Climate Change Impacts and the Philippines,” shows that from 1975 to 2002, intensifying tropical cyclones caused an annual average of 593 deaths and damage to property of P4.5 billion, including damage to agriculture of 3 billion pesos (around US$55 million).

"The combination of strong typhoons, excessive precipitation, and landslides has caused a great deal of death and destruction in the Philippines. If we do not act urgently, climate change will further intensify the severity of extreme weather events,” Jabines quoted Amadore as saying.

Greenpeace also urged governments in the region to use the upcoming 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit as a platform to secure critical agreements on urgent measures to mitigate the impact of climate change across the region.

Examples of such measures include the massive shift away from petroleum-based energy sources and toward renewable energy systems and the setting of legally binding targets for reductions of greenhouse gas emissions around the world, Greenpeace said.

Reming is the latest in the series of deadly and destructive tropical cyclones to ravage the Philippines in recent years. The typhoon brought 466 millimeters of rainfall, the highest in 40 years.

Reming is also the third super-typhoon this year -- a first in Philippine history -- and the fourth major typhoon in as many months.

Typhoon Milenyo (international code name Xangsane) struck the country in September, causing more than P3 billion in damages and leaving more than a hundred casualties. Super-typhoons Paeng (Cimaron) and Queenie (Chebi) followed in October and November, both adding millions of pesos more to the damages already wrought by Milenyo.