WHETHER you like it or not, climate change is happening. It is impossible to be skeptical about it when it is happening right in front of our eyes.
We don’t need photos and stories of melting polar ice caps to be informed of the changing climate. We can see it with the recent changes in the Philippines alone.
When typhoons enter the southern portion of the Philippine Area of Responsibility, its path would usually go up towards the Visayas or Luzon. However, in the last few years, we saw how typhoons have started to make landfall in Davao Region, though mostly in Compostela Valley or Davao Oriental.
In 2012, Typhoon Pablo made landfall in Davao Oriental while in 2013, Typhoon Crising struck Davao del Sur.
This year, we saw how Tropical Depression Chedeng, which later weakened to a low pressure area, made landfall in Malita, Davao Occidental.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Davao the last time Malita, Occidental was struck by a typhoon was in 1970 by Typhoon Titang.
Usually tagged as among the typhoon free areas in the Philippines, this may not be the case in the near future for Davao Region.
Once Mother Nature starts changing things, it will seem impossible to revert it back to how it was.
What needs to be done right now is enact programs or initiatives that will allow the different sectors of the society to adapt to climate change.
For one, it is commendable that the Department of Agriculture, Department of Science and Technology, and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management are making efforts to create programs that will improve the resiliency of the Filipinos.
The Department of Education has also started to make steps to integrate climate change adaptation to the curriculum.
However, there is much to be done in terms of making the public known of what they are doing. Not everyone is aware of the efforts being done to help people adapt to a change that will soon hit every one of us.
There is also a need to ramp up the information and education campaign on climate change for the public to know and understand what it is and what they can do about it.
If we do not do something about it now, how can we survive when the effects of climate change are at its peak?