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In the last decade or so, the subject of global
warming has become a major topic of discussion. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scientific body
that was established by two UN organizations and tasked to evaluate
the risk of climate change caused by human activity, has published
four assessment reports during the period 1990 to 2007. The fourth
report shows that the effects of global warming are becoming more
intense: the warmest years (since temperature recording started in
1850) occurred in 11 of the last 12 years and that if trend
continues, surface temperature and sea level will rise by about
1.1-6.4C and 18-59 centimeters, respectively.
The urgency and importance of the
issue of global warming is seen in the selection of the prestigious
Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 which was shared by former US
vice-president Al Gore, for sounding the alarm over global warming
and spreading awareness on how to counteract it, with IPCC which,
through its scientific reports, built up knowledge about the
connection between human activities and global warming.
From December 3 to 14, 2007,
diplomats, government ministers and scientists gathered in Bali,
Indonesia for the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) Summit to hammer out a roadmap that will become the
basis of a treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol,
which is to expire in 2012, has done little to halt rising
temperatures and the rise in apparently climate-related natural
calamities. The task of UNFCCC has not been easy as shown by the
differing views from the participants. The US, which is the only
developed country that has not signed the Kyoto Protocol, is at odds
with the European Union, which wants that CO2 emission cuts be made
more aggressively at 25-40% of current levels by 2020. The US will
agree to emission cuts only if China and India will commit to some
targets too.
Global warming is closely
associated to the accumulation of greenhouse gas (GHG), like water
vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane in the atmosphere. The
largest contributing source of GHG is the burning of fossil fuels
(petroleum products and coal) leading to the emission of carbon
dioxide. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere act like a mirror that
reflect back to Earth a part of the heat radiation, which would
otherwise be lost in space. The higher the concentration of GHG in
the atmosphere, the more heat energy is reflected back to Earth.
With temperatures going up, the
large masses of ice and ice sheets in the Earth’s coldest areas
are gradually melting causing sea levels to rise. Moreover, the high
temperature also makes the ocean water expand making the sea levels
to further rise. It is feared that 30 percent of the Earth’s
species could disappear if temperatures rise 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit
– and up to 70% if they rise 6.3 degrees. For the Philippines with
its 7,100 islands, with half of its municipalities located near the
coastline, a rise in sea level will put majority of our people in
danger, causing massive dislocation and economic difficulty.
The Albay Declaration on Climate
Change Adaptation, which came out recently in some of the daily
papers, contains an action plan that our policy-makers should
seriously look into and act on. Time is not in our favor. The time
for action is now. 
(To be continued next week)
Evelio G. Echavez is a faculty
member of the De La Salle Professional Schools Ramon V. Del Rosario
Sr. Graduate School of Business and presently the dean of the
College of Business Administration and Accountancy of Baliuag
University in Baliuag, Bulacan. He welcomes comments at egechavez@yahoo.com.
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