My column in BUSINESSWEEK MINDANAO and MINDANAO DAILY NEWS.
Yes, it's again the topic, we should really think about. Our future, but especially our children's future. Also here in the Philippines. Here's anew string of examples, my dear readers. But, don't expect only good news.
We're experiencing in the Philippines a mild El Nino right now. "Mild" - because we might not be able to the see the end of the tunnel. Yes, it's summer - but... .
Greenland, the great island is being called already the 'Land of Ice 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.
Yes, 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. Different reports - different views.
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 was 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 - on board 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.
Greenland, home to the world's largest permanent ice sheet outside Antarctica, was being swept by wildfires already two years ago.. Yes, the land of ice was on fire. A really breath away taking situation. Scientists are keep on saying global warming and increased plant cover are likely factors.
Honestly folks, it really scares me although experts say it is too early to draw firm conclusions linking the wild fires from all over the world to climate change because no long-term data is available to put the blaze in context. However, unusually warm and dry conditions could have been a factor.
Although the origin of the global blaze (especially Australia or California) 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. And 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 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."
Fact is: Greenland's ice sheets melt, that contributes to sea level rise. And if we add North- and South Pole and their vanishing ice and snow? Then yes, also the Philippines are in danger.
