Climate Change Will Hit the Philippines the Worst, According to a Report
Filipinos should be very, very concerned about global warming.
The Philippines is the country at most risk from the climate crisis, according to a report published in 2019 by the Institute for Economics and Peace.
A Climate Central study projects that roughly 150 million people currently live in areas set to be submerged by 2050. About 70 percent of them are in Southeast Asia and the Philippines is at the top spot.
Geographically, the Philippines is prone to typhoons. We are hit by an average of 20 of them a year. The past years have also shown that the intensity of these storms have increased. Some of the most deadly typhoons the country has had, including Reming, Frank, Winnie, Pablo, and Yolanda, all happened during the new millennium. These accounted for more or less 12,600 fatalities.
This worrisome trend can be attributed to rising sea temperatures. While this means typhoons are less frequent, it also entails that they are likely to be more powerful. Add the fact that a lot of Filipinos live on the coast and future typhoons may produce even more fatalities in the long run.
For instance, a coastal island in Visayas may be fully submerged by the year 2050.
In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Meteorologist and Climatologist Lourdes Tibig claimed that an island in the region is experiencing a sea level rise faster than the global average.
“The global average is 3.7 millimeters per year. In Visayas islands, in that particular study site, they found out that the sea level rise is happening four times 3.7 millimeters per year. 3.7 millimeters times four. That’s more than one centimeter every year,” she expressed. “Imagine what that coastal island would look like, say, in 2050."
At the very least, Filipinos have become more aware of the impending crisis. According to a 2022 Statista survey, 73.8 percent of respondents in the Philippines believed that climate change was serious and an immediate threat. What remains to be seen is further safeguards from our institutions.
What will the country look like in 50 years?
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