We are, technically, in the middle of summer. And this hasn’t been more evident than in the past few weeks wherein staying outdoors under the sun for a prolonged period of time would be a death sentence. To say that it was “hot” is an understatement. Temperatures rose so much that even the air conditioning units here in the Cebu Daily News building were overwhelmed, forcing us to deploy our electric fans and contemplate installing additional air conditioning.
Then, starting last Friday, it rained. And rained. And hasn’t stopped raining, maybe except for short pauses that last a few hours. It’s summer, yet even as I write this, I’m clad in a turtleneck shirt, contemplating getting my leather jacket from my car. Though to be honest, I like the cold weather, and it is definitely welcome considering the recent heat. Still, it’s highly unusual for the summer season, especially in the absence of a storm.The recent rains are the result of an “Intertropical Convergence Zone” over Mindanao, with the tail-end of the cold front in that convergence located mostly over the Visayas, according to the website of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). That basically means it’s going to be raining cats, dogs, ferrets, mongooses and hyenas over the next few days over the Visayas and Mindanao. While the sudden (and extreme) change of weather is, according to PAGASA, the result of natural phenomenon, environment advocates attribute it to a larger, more wide-spread instability of the Earth’s weather patterns, caused mostly by humanity’s unchecked practice of using products that inevitably change the global environment. The foremost of these practices is the use of fossil fuels as a power source, creating ridiculous amounts of carbon compounds that trap heat around the planet. While the term “greenhouse gases” has gained a negative connotation these past few years, the Earth actually needs greenhouse gases, otherwise there would be no way for the planet to keep the heat it generates or takes from the sun, leaving the planet cold and uninhabitable. However, in just the past 100 years of this five-billion year old planet, humans have created so much greenhouse gases than the planet knows what to do with it. And while we’re producing more and more greenhouse gases, humans are also limiting more and more the planet’s ability to reprocess those gases, primarily by chopping down trees, some of which we ironically burn to create even more greenhouse gases. It’s a vicious cycle. And what’s sad about the whole thing is that it’s a cycle that could only lead to humans’ eventual self-destruction. As consumers, there’s much we can do with our lifestyles to reduce the amount of carbon we produce, otherwise known by the increasingly more popular term “carbon footprint.” Most of this comes with the proper management of our vehicles: Keep them tuned to maximize efficiency (produce more power while consuming less fuel), minimizing the use of large vehicles for normal city travel (why use large SUVs with large engines when you’re just driving yourself to a desk job? Drive a sedan, maybe even a motorcycle), carpool (the more people in one car, the fewer cars burning fuel on the road), plan your routes, and avoid driving fast in the city (quick accelerations will consume more gas, and will consequently just result in equally quick braking since the next traffic light or turn will force you to slow down anyway). If you can afford it, buy a hybrid car. I know I would if I had the money. There’s also household management: Turning off appliances or lights that are not in use will decrease power consumption significantly, not only decreasing electricity demands from power plants, but also saving you money. Now here’s the thing about appliances that most people don’t know, but should know: Many modern appliances that are turned off but still plugged will still consume a minimum amount of power for “standby” mode, allowing for quick switch-ons with remote controls. The no. 1 culprit with this feature is your television set. Others with this feature include DVD players, sound systems, new air conditioners, and almost everything else that comes with a remote control nowadays. While the power consumed by a single appliance is very small when on standby mode, that small amount will add up very quickly if one has many of these kinds of appliances. Simply unplugging these appliances after every use and plugging it back only when they’re going to be used can reduce a household’s power bill by as much as 25 percent, some research shows. Or if you’re too lazy to unplug/replug every time, invest in a surge protector or those little socket adapters with switches. The on/off switch on these devices is a simple method of cutting off all power to an appliance with a standby mode. Simply switching these devices on before use and off after every use should save you on power, and decrease your household’s carbon footprint in the long run (not to mention protect your appliances to a degree from sudden power fluctuations). Also, invest in power-saving bulbs. They might be more expensive than regular bulbs, but the savings on power will more than make up for their price.
Apart from decreasing your carbon footprint, people can also help retard the planet’s dwindling ability to process carbon. One can primarily do this by reducing dependence on wood products. A small demand for wood means minimizing the amount of trees that have to be chopped down. People can also plant more trees and actually help the planet regain its lost ability to reprocess carbon.
There are many more ways we humans can help the planet cope with the damage we’ve done to it. All we need to do is be aware and to try a little bit harder. Everything we do will simply come back to us anyway, such as what is now happening to our weather. If we think the heat is getting unbearable, we have nobody but ourselves to blame. If we think the summer rain came too suddenly, it’s still, in hindsight, our fault. We’re obviously this planet’s problem. In the end, it’s also we who are the solution. We have no other choice, otherwise, all that will be left of us humans on this Earth will be our footprints – our carbon footprints. |
