by: Al-Radzdi A. Hayudini
According to US Geological survey, “nearly one quarter of the world’s population live below 30 meters above sea level. A rise of about 5 meters would affect 669 million people and 5.4 million square kilometer of the land would be lost.
Scientists reported that from 1980-2030 Carbon dioxide would double in the atmosphere; temperature of the air might rise by 2% (3.6°F), making dry regions drier and melting the ice in the polar region. Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri , an Indian scientist said that “Gases, primarily Carbon Dioxide, emitted a burning helexfussil fuels like oil, coal, and gas, lead to heat being trapped by the atmosphere. That heat causes glaciers to melt, alter the climate, and brings about floods, droughts, and even affects delicate habitats and animal species.”
In the Philippines, there are major cities situated on the relatively low-lying areas. Manila lies in a low-lying flood plain and tidal swamp areas that is extremely vulnerable to rises in sea level. Dr. Fernando Siringan, a Filipino scientist of the University of the Philippines Marine Science and Institute said, “Manila is sinking at an increasing rate.” 40% or 4.4 million out of the 11 million of Metro Manila’s population lived on disasters prone areas comprising 5% of the land where recently 32 barangays submerged caused by typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng”. These 32 barangays are located at Marikina, Pasay City, Pasig, Makati, Quezon City, Valenzuela City, and San Juan.
Outside of Metro Manila, 24 provinces are also prone to flash floods. These are the provinces of Rizal, Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Batangas, Marinduque, Aurora, Bataan, Mindoro, Oriental, Mindoro Occidental, Camarines Norte, Quirino, Cavite, Ilocos sur, Nueva Viscaya, Tarlac, Laguna, Pampanga, Zambales, Isabela Mt. Province, Ifugao, Benguet, La Union. Dapitan, Lingayen Gulf, Parts of Davao City, and reclaimed portion of Cebu City are among those included.
