Remember how typhoon Agaton, a strong typhoon that hit the Philippines in the middle of the dry season, silently flooded several areas in the Visayas? Well, we can expect more of those in the future. That is one of the severe impacts of climate change: extreme rainfall and violent storms.
A recent study has shown that ‘human-induced climate change increased the extreme rainfall associated with the 2020 hurricane season by 5-10 percent.’
According to the same research, flooding could occur in two scenarios: intense rain over a short period and continuous rain over a longer period.
This is just what’s happening on this side of the Earth. In other areas, people are forced to experience heatwaves, droughts, winter storms, and wildfires brought about by climate change.
Are we still turning a blind eye on this?
Whether you believe that climate change is real or not, the science is on our side.
We have to limit global warming and act on this climate emergency before our 2030 deadline.
“It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F),” said Jim Skea from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). “Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible.”
In 2015, the Paris Agreement was developed as a legally binding international treaty on climate change, participated by 196 Parties. The ultimate goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
Now, what?
Here are quick tips to do your part:
- VOTE. Much of how this phenomenon is affecting us all is because of the decision makers or those we elect in government offices. While we can do our part individually, climate change is bigger than all of us and arguably a systemic problem. With this, we have role to help those will fight against what we are fighting for.
- BE ENERGY EFFICIENT. Since the current major source of energy is still fossil fuels, if we rely less on it then we are already becoming part of the solution. Through using energy-efficient devices and appliances, this macro-level effort will have a big impact if we do it altogether.
- COMMUTE. OR BIKE TO WORK. You don’t have to add to the greenhouse gas emissions by taking public transportation to work instead of using your own vehicle. Or maybe, with an added benefit of keeping yourself healthy, you can use a bike to get to places.
- PROMOTE RENEWABLES. If you have the capacity, install solar panels on your rooftop so you are no longer dependent on fossil fuels. Advocate for the use of other renewable energy sources like wind, hydropower, geothermal, tidal, and biomass, among others.
- USE YOUR VOICE. Just like how I am using mine now. If you have the platform to speak up and create more awareness about what’s happening, do it now. Or else, we’ll suffer for the rest of our lives and the generations to come.
We need to take action. Now!
[If you are an organization working on climate reality or climate justice, send me an e-mail for a possible collaboration: engineerdeereyes@gmail.com]