Warming ourselves to boiling point Rafael Castillo, MD Inquirer
November 11, 2006
I MISS the cool November breeze in the evening. It has remained unusually warm this time of the year. The global environment must really be warming up.
Global warming is caused by the buildup of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere. These gases are called greenhouse gases because of a similar effect on the glass panes of a greenhouse.
The airborne gases allow sunlight to pierce through the atmosphere and is then transformed into heat energy. The energy is trapped by the gases; hence, it cannot escape back into space. It stays on earth and warms it up.
Main culprit
Although many gases contribute to the greenhouse effect, carbon dioxide is the main culprit. We increase the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere every time we burn fuel, such as oil, coal or wood. The more cars we have on the road, the more factories we have everywhere, and the more trees we cut, the worse the greenhouse problem grows.
Hopefully, our illegal loggers realize their role in aggravating global warming. Deforestation exacerbates seriously the greenhouse effect. Plants, trees and vegetation absorb carbon dioxide. And since most of the forests are burned, the resulting fires aggravate the problem by releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide. It’s a double whammy.
The telltale signs of global warming are all around us: Heat waves and periods of unusually warm weather, ocean warming, sea-level rise and coastal flooding, foreign reports of glaciers melting.
Former US vice president Al Gore came here last year to sound the alarm. Many listened but didn’t seem to care as if Mr. Gore was just the boy who cried wolf.
Hopelessly bleak picture
Although it may be true that some global-warming doomsayers may be painting a hopelessly bleak picture, that’s exactly where we’re headed to if we remain apathetic to the perils of global warming. And it’s the kind of apathy that’s already starting to kill a greater number of people collectively than any war had done.
Epidemics and probably a looming pandemic, tsunamis, typhoons, floods, droughts and fires as well as many more modern-day plagues have all increased in intensity and frequency, likely attributable to global warming. I wish this was a flawed analysis. I wish the “cooler heads” are right in saying that the warm temperatures are caused merely by a natural fluctuation in the earth’s climate pattern, which will ultimately reverse itself.
A warming world
But considering the progressive nature of natural calamities worldwide, it may be prudent to give the problem of global warming the respect it rightfully deserves. Even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), meeting several years ago, concluded that this increasing body of events and calamities, and other observations give a collective picture of a warming world and other changes in the climate system. And this can spell more disaster in the future.
Global warming, first gained international attention in the late 1980s when they noted that the ocean temperature has increased by a few degrees since 1880, the year in which climate records were first kept. The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in mid-1991 appeared to have given the world a two-year cooling period from 1991 to 1993. This was due to the dust and sulfur particles spewed by Mt. Pinatubo into the earth’s atmosphere. These particles reflected the sun’s heat and gave Earth a two-year hiatus to cool off. However, as the atmospheric dust settled back to the ground, global warming has also resumed.
Continuing mission
To avoid an imminent global disaster caused by global warming, experts say we must reduce our emission of greenhouse gases. And here is where we can all contribute to help. Planting a tree, turning off unused lights, driving our cars less—each of these activities can help if everyone does it as continuing mission. They will help our planet keep its cool, so nature does not spew its wrath on us.
If we don’t take consistent positive actions at this point, we may be pushing global warming close to the tipping point. And may God bless the world should this happen.
Previous columns: Did the seven infants die in vain?– 11/04/06 Kidney cancer– 10/28/06 Working for a healthier Philippines – 10/21/06 Dementia – 10/07/06 Check your BP properly – 9/23/06
