"While we can’t stop the effects of what we’ve done in the past, we can influence the future. Tackling climate change starts with understanding why we need to," says Dr. Juan Pulhin, one of the four Filipino scientists who is part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)¹ and associate professor of the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

Dr. Juan Pulhin discusses climate change impacts and mitigation.

Climate change is an unfolding story with a dreadful ending if we do not act now. Pulhin traced the critical years dating back to 1979 when World Climate Conference first recognized climate change. As IPCC reported in 1990, our planet’s temperature increased by 5°C in the last 100 years. The year 2004 was the hottest year on record for the last ten years.

In the Philippines, records show that warming has occurred in the country from 1951 to 2006. This is evident with the increasing number of strong typhoons (>185kph wind speed) hitting the country such as “Milenyo” and “Reming” in 2006. Aside from increased rainfall, most regions of the country will also have a 2-3°C increase in temperature.

Alarmingly, the effects of climate change are multi-sectoral. It could mean a general reduction in crop yield, increased competition for food security, decrease in water availability, increased risk of flooding, increased energy demand for space cooling due to higher temperature, frequent occurrence of forest fires, and increase in number of people exposed to vector-borne (e.g., malaria) and water-borne diseases (e.g., cholera and dengue).

Policy-making bodies have designed frameworks such as the Kyoto protocol to mitigate and adapt to climate change. There are also technology and practices available commercially combating this phenomenon such as hybrid vehicles, biofuels, hydropower, geothermal energy, among others.

But the more pressing question is what ordinary citizens can do to mitigate the effects of climate change. Pulhin presented simple ways that ordinary people can do to help save our ailing planet.

Responsible citizens should save water and electricity and observe proper solid waste management. People should avoid burning dry leaves and plastics because these contribute to increased emission of gases to the atmosphere leading to climate change. It is also time to participate on activities and campaigns related to climate change. Planting more trees to help stop deforestation is a more helpful strategy.

The 2007 IPCC report concludes that the occurrence of climate change is almost inevitable. It is a challenge for everyone, especially for communicators, to build a culture that aims to act upon climate change before its impact destroys us rather than wait for catastrophic effects in the near future.

The PAJ is an organization of mainstream media men, editors, and information officers in agriculture which celebrated its second anniversary by co-organizing this seminar. Also present during the event were Los Baños Mayor Caesar Perez, officials of PAJ, public information officers from various local government units, faculty, and students. (Ranell Martin M. Dedicatoria, KMU)

¹IPCC is a scientific intergovernmental body whose main task is to assess significant literature produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of the risk of human-induced climate change, its observed and projected impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.

For more information, you may contact Dr. Juan Pulhin at the Department of Social Forestry, College of Forestry and Natural Resurce, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines 4031 or send him an e-mail at jpulhin@laguna.net.

Dr. Pulhin's presentation (April 11) handout available for download at http://www.searca.org/web/adss/2008/index.html.