Page 44 - SB volume 12 for web

SUPERBRAND ACADEMY

THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Climate change events including sea level rise, increased RISING SEA LEVELS
frequency of extreme weather events, rising temperatures, Global heating is causing the ice caps at the north and south
and heavy rainfall all pose a threat to the Philippines. This is poles to melt, resulting in rising sea levels.
due to the country’s vulnerability to natural dangers such as
typhoons and droughts, reliance on climate-sensitive natural A study produced by Climate Central shows that around 150
resources, and extensive coastline, which are home to the million people currently live in areas set to be submerged by
country’s main cities and most of the population. 2050, and about 70% of these people at risk are South East
Asia, including the Philippines.
Coastal flooding poses the greatest threat to the urban poor,
many of whom live in makeshift shelters. Read on to find out As the Philippines are a collection of islands, there are a lot
more about how climate change will affect the Philippines. of people living on the coast. Add to this the low elevation of
much of the land and you have a recipe for disaster..
THE PHILIPPINES IS HIT BY AN AVERAGE OF
20 TYPHOONS EVERY YEAR Sea levels in the Philippines are rising at roughly twice the
Similar to a hurricane, a typhoon’s super-fast wind speeds global average rate. When particularly powerful storms,
cause huge amounts of damage, while the storm surges they such as Typhoon “Haiyan”, hit land, the higher sea level
create flood coastal areas. contributes to storm surges of up to 15–20 feet.

Worryingly, the intensity of these storms has massively Storm surges are expected to affect 14% of the total
increased in recent years, with five of the most deadly on population and 42% of coastal residents. Informal
record happening since 2006. This is largely due to increased settlements, which make up 45% of the Philippines’ urban
sea temperatures as a result of global heating, which causes population, are particularly at risk from flooding due to
typhoons to become less frequent but much more powerful. precarious infrastructure, limited access to clean water, and
a lack of health insurance.
As an archipelago in the Pacific, the Philippines experiences
the effects of climate change through extreme weather events These images shows how much of the land around the
such as typhoons reaching the (highest) Category 5 intensity capital city of Manila could be underwater (in red) by 2100,
on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale or “super typhoons’’. in the study’s worst case scenario.

Costly typhoon seasons have become a national reality in the The Philippines is not currently taking this threat seriously.
country. The typhoon seasons in recent decades (1980s to That’s why it’s so important to support Marinel Sumook
2010s) have been tallying more deaths and damages. Even the Ubaldo (Filipino Climate Activist) and her work fighting the
Philippines’ southern islands or Mindanao, once considered climate crisis.
‘typhoon-free’, are now more frequently visited by typhoons:
two of the deadliest typhoons that visited the country in the
2010s – Sendong and Pablo – had devastated the region.

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