You plan to move to the Philippines? Wollen Sie auf den Philippinen leben?

There are REALLY TONS of websites telling us how, why, maybe why not and when you'll be able to move to the Philippines. I only love to tell and explain some things "between the lines". Enjoy reading, be informed, have fun and be entertained too!

Ja, es gibt tonnenweise Webseiten, die Ihnen sagen wie, warum, vielleicht warum nicht und wann Sie am besten auf die Philippinen auswandern könnten. Ich möchte Ihnen in Zukunft "zwischen den Zeilen" einige zusätzlichen Dinge berichten und erzählen. Viel Spass beim Lesen und Gute Unterhaltung!


Visitors of germanexpatinthephilippines/Besucher dieser Webseite.Ich liebe meine Flaggensammlung!

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Showing posts with label Mother Earth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mother Earth. Show all posts

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Our children’s Mother Earth

By Panay News -Thursday, July 14, 2022


BY KLAUS DÖRING


MOTHER Nature (sometimes known as Mother Earth or the Earth Mother) is a personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it, in the form of the mother.

The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet – and its people. Restoring our damaged ecosystems will help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent mass extinction


Yes, it’s again the topic we should really think about. Also here in the Philippines. Ok, here’s a new string of examples, my dear readers. But, don’t expect good news.


Greenland, the great island is being called the Land of Ice being on fire. Why? A recent report says the Arctic may be ice-free by 2040. The Antarctic is also melting, albeit far slower, and in a less regular pattern.


The Arctic is melting much faster than expected, and could even be ice-free in summer by the late 2030’s, a report from the Arctic Council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program suggests. Previous studies had forecast an ice-free North Pole in summer by mid-century. Wow.

While the outlook is bleak for the Arctic, there is a silver lining for the Antarctic: As I said before, the ice is melting at a slower rate than previously thought. Although glacier flow has increased since the 1990’s, scientists from University of Leeds have found the melting rate to be only around a third of what was previously projected.


Operation IceBridge studies the processes that link the polar regions with the Earth’s climate system. Rapidly changing polar ice means researchers need to use highly sophisticated airborne technology to measure annual changes in thickness and movement – onboard a retrofitted 1966 Lockheed P-3 aircraft.


 But the Antarctic is still melting. And a rapidly advancing crack in its fourth-largest ice shelf could soon see one of the largest icebergs ever recorded in human history break off into the sea.Scientists agree that global warming causes both the ice in the North and the South Pole to melt. Air temperatures are climbing, and so are water temperatures. This makes the ice melt faster. The period of winter where the water is actually cold enough to freeze is getting shorter, which means ice floes are getting smaller.


Honestly folks, it really scares me although experts say it is too early to draw firm conclusions linking the fire to climate change because no long-term data is available to put the blaze in context. However, unusually warm and dry conditions this year could have been a factor.


Let’s face this: “It’s unprecedented in the short 18-year observational record,” Jason Box, a climate scientist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, said in an interview with German TV yesterday. . “We also know that temperatures in Greenland are probably higher [than they have been over] the last 800 years.” Wow again!


Although the origin of the blaze is unclear – with lightning and a stray cigarette as possible suspects – what is clear is how it has been spreading across remote areas of grassland and low shrub. Greenland is indeed getting greener and greener. It conjures images of white, frozen expanses. But Box says global warming means it’s getting greener all the time. “There’s a shorter snow-cover season, and that allows the plant life to expand,” he explained.


The Arctic is heating up around twice as fast as the global average. At the same time, rainfall around the world is also increasing – and that trend as well is more present in the Arctic. “More rain is a widespread symptom of climate change,” Box said. “You get more precipitation – and where you get the biggest increase is in the Arctic.”


For Greenland, warmer, wetter conditions mean more vegetation – which, seemingly paradoxically, could be a factor for the fire. And my next question is: what will be the impact of these fires on the ice sheet and surrounding areas?


Fact is: Greenland’s ice sheets melt, which contributes to sea level rise. And if we add the North- and South Pole and their vanishing ice and snow and all other oceans worldwide?  Yes, also the Philippines are in danger. Not this year or next year. But … !

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

The burning Mother Earth

My today's column

A heat wave is ravaging countries around the world. Although many celebrate sunny days, wildfires, wasted crops and health problems are some of the many disastrous consequences hot weather can have. Are we facing now the global heat wave that's been killing us?

This write-up seems to become the continuation of my previous column from last week in this publication. But it looks like much more dangerous:

Portugal breaks temperature records as European heat wave sizzles on! That's how one of hundreds headlines goes while browsing the latest news. Eight locations in Portugal have hit their highest-ever temperatures amid a heat wave across Europe. Two people are reported to have died in neighboring Spain of heat-related causes.

Portugal's weather agency said Friday that eight places in the center, south and east of the country experienced record-breaking local temperatures the previous day, as the Iberian peninsula bears the brunt of a heat wave across the European continent.

Two people in neighboring Spain are reported to have died amid the heat, with climate scientists saying such periods of scorching temperatures in Europe have been made twice as likely by the effects of global warming caused by human activity. The temperature reached 45.2 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) (!) near Abrantes, a town 159 km (99 miles) northeast of Lisbon.

Many other European countries are also suffering unusually extended periods of very hot weather. The current heat wave in the Netherlands is the longest-ever recorded, while Sweden has experienced its hottest July in more than 250 years, accompanied by wildfires across the country.

Germany - my home country - has also been hit by hot weather, with fires breaking out in the national park of Saxon Switzerland in the eastern state of Saxony on last Thursday evening. The drought is so bad in northern Germany that a kindergarten burned down in the far north after firefighters couldn't get enough water. No one has been killed or injured.  
   
Most of us enjoy sunny days and complain on rainy ones — yet behind the clear skies lies a less pleasant reality. Since June 2018, numerous regions around the world have been facing infernal temperatures, which have caused wildfires, ruined crops and killed hundreds of people.

The hottest year ever recorded was 2016, due to a combination of global warming and a strong El Niño episode. Despite 2018 experiencing the opposite climate event, La Niña — which tends to cool temperatures — June has ranked as one of the hottest months on record. 

A heat wave describes a period of at least five days with a temperature of 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average. Extremely hot individual days can be a one-off, which doesn't always have a link to heat waves or global warming. However, a trend is clear: As a result of climate change, we can expect more extreme and frequent heat waves. That's the opinion of Clare Nullis, media officer World Meteorological Organization.

 For a south European person, 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) is nothing special. But that definitely is hot for people in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where the normal temperature in June doesn't exceed 20 degrees. On June 28, Glasgow reached its hottest June day ever, with 31.9 degrees Celsius, and the Irish town of Shannon its highest temperature ever recorded at 32 degrees. 

Germans have enjoyed — or suffered — temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius for most of May and June. In the country of Georgia, July 4 made history with 40.5 degrees Celsius. 

North America has not escaped the suffocating wave either. Denver and Los Angeles were among several cities in the United States that tied or broke heat records.

Montreal, in Canada, recorded the highest temperature in 147 years of record-keeping on July 2. The heat wave there killed more than 70 people.

Thermometers in Japan, Russia and Algeria, among other places, were also on fire. On July 5, the Ouargla weather station in Algeria’s Sahara Desert reported the highest reliable temperature ever recorded in Africa: 51.3 degrees Celsius.

This increases the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Substances like pollen, which can cause asthma, are also higher in extreme heat, the WHO said. Unusually high temperatures at night disturb restful sleep, preventing the body from recovering from daytime heat. 

Vulnerable groups such as young children and the elderly suffer the most, stated Simone Sandholz, associate academic officer at the United Nations University's Institute for Environment and Human Security. Most victims of extreme heat live in densely populated urban areas, where ventilation is scarce, she added.

Hot weather coupled with humidity is also a perfect setting for insects to thrive. In England, helpline calls for insect bites almost doubled in early July. And if you've ever felt it was so hot your brain doesn't work, science says you could be right. Hot weather can make your thinking more than 10 percent slower, a new study shows.

Farmers and crops are further victims of heat waves and droughts. In the UK, growers of peas and lettuce have struggled to meet demand due to low yields and crop failure this growing season; wheat, broccoli and cauliflower are also on the list of crops affected by the weather. In Germany, farmers have resigned themselves to a much lower grain harvest due to the heat and dryness.

While writing this piece, I am sitting in my cool office. But every specialist will tell you: access to air conditioning and cooling systems, though vital in a warmer world, can be part of a vicious cycle. Increasing use of cooling devices, currently powered largely by fossil fuels, would further contribute to climate change — and therefore rising temperatures.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Our children's Mother Earth

Our children’s mother earth

By KLAUS DÖRING
Yes, it’s again the topic, we should really think about. Also here in the Philippines. Ok, here’s anew string of examples, my dear readers. But, don’t expect good news.
Greenland, the great island is being called already the Land of Ice being on fire. Why? A recent report says the Arctic may be ice-free by 2040. The Antarctic is also melting, albeit far slower, and in a less regular pattern.
The Arctic is melting much faster than expected, and could even be ice-free in summer by the late 2030’s, a report from the Arctic Council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program suggests. Previous studies had forecast an ice-free North Pole in summer by mid-century. Wow.
While the outlook is bleak for the Arctic, there is a silver lining for the Antarctic: As I said before, the ice is melting at a slower rate than previously thought. Although glacier flow has increased since the 1990’s, scientists from University of Leeds have found the melting rate to be only around a third of what was previously projected. A section of a glacier in Greenland is seen from NASA’s Operation IceBridge research aircraft along the Upper Baffin Bay coast on March 27, 2017.
Operation IceBridge studies the processes that link the polar regions with the Earth’s climate system. Rapidly changing polar ice means researchers need to use highly sophisticated airborne technology to measure annual changes in thickness and movement – onboard a retrofitted 1966 Lock-heed P-3 aircraft.
But the Antarctic is still melting. And a rapidly advancing crack in its fourth-largest ice shelf could soon see one of the largest icebergs ever recorded in human history break off into the sea. Scientists agree that global warming causes both the ice in the North and the South Pole to melt. Air temperatures are climbing, and so are water temperatures. This makes the ice melt faster. The period of winter where the water is actually cold enough to freeze is getting shorter, which means ice floes are getting smaller.
Greenland, home to the world’s largest permanent ice sheet outside Antarctica, is being swept by wildfires. Yes, the land of ice is on fire. A really breath away taking situation. Scientists say global warming and increased plant cover are likely factors. Since late July, wild-fires have raged across an ever-larger area of the landmass – and with greater intensity – than ever before observed.
Honestly folks, it really scares me although experts say it is too early to draw firm conclusions linking the fire to climate change be-cause no long-term data is available to put the blaze in context. However, unusually warm and dry conditions this year could have been a factor.
Let’s face this: “It’s unprecedented in the short 18-year observational record,” Jason Box, a climate scientist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, said in an interview with German TV yesterday. “We also know that temperatures in Greenland are probably higher [than they have been over] the last 800 years.” Wow again!
Although the origin of the blaze is unclear – with lightening and a stray cigarette as possible suspects – what is clear is how it has been spreading across remote areas of grassland and low shrub. Greenland’s is indeed getting greener and greener. It conjures images of white, frozen expanses. But Box says global warming means it’s getting greener all the time. “There’s a shorter snow-cover season, and that allows the plant life to expand,” he explained.
The Arctic is heating up around twice as fast as the global average. At the same time, rainfall around the world is also increasing – and that trend as well is more present in the Artic. “More rain is a widespread symptom of climate change,” Box said. “You get more precipitation – and where you get the biggest increase is in the Arctic.”
For Greenland, warmer, wetter conditions mean more vegetation – which, seemingly paradoxically, could be a factor for the fire. And my next question is: what will be the impact of these fires on the ice sheet and surrounding areas?
Fact is: Greenland’s ice sheets melt, that contri-butes to sea level rise. And if we add North- and South Pole and their vanishing ice and snow? Yes, also the Philippines are in danger. Not this year or next year. But … !
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