Quarter 2 TRENDS

• Climate change is a global problem facing humanity at the present time, primarily caused by human activities related to production and consumption patterns.
• The consequences and impact of climate change are devastating and severe, including droughts, hunger, and extreme typhoons.
• Climate refers to average weather in a particular place, including precipitation, temperature, humidity, wind, and seasons.
• Climate change patterns play an important part in the formation of natural ecosystems.
• Human economies and cultures also depend on climate.
• Water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas and serves as a feedback to the climate.
• Health-related effects of climate change include increased risk of heat-related illnesses, vector-borne diseases, and mental health issues.
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the principal greenhouse gas that contributes to climate changes.
• Methane is a hydrocarbon gas produced by natural sources and human activities which includes the decomposition of wastes in landfills, rice cultivation, ruminant digestion, and domestic livestock manure management.
• Nitrous oxide (N20) is a powerful greenhouse gas produced due to soil cultivation practices, especially the use of commercial and organic fertilizer, fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid production, and biomass burning.
• Heat waves caused by climate change threaten the livestock sector as well as heat stress affects animals both directly and indirectly because it can increase vulnerability of animals to decrease and reduce their fertility and milk production.
• Scientists have observed the decrease in mass of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.
• Changes in temperature, amount of carbon dioxide (CO2), and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather could have significant impacts on crop yields.
• Warmer temperatures can allow crops to grow more quickly, but warmer temperatures could also decrease crop yields.
• Semi-arid and arid (excessively dry) areas like the Mediterranean region, Southern African regions, and northeastern Brazil are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as far as the supply of water is concerned.
• Diseases among aquatic life are more prevalent in warm water.
• About 20-30% of the plant and animal species are at risk of extinction if temperatures projected rate to occur by the end of the 21st century will really happen.
• Climate change can affect the supply of fish and marine life because many marine and aquatic species can only survive on particular temperature ranges.
• Climate change can endanger the health of people.
• The rise of sea level by one to four feet by 2100 is projected due to the additional water caused by the melting of land ice and the expansion of seawater.
• Storm intensity and rainfall rates are projected to increase as warm climate continues.
• The acidity of the surface ocean waters has risen by about 30 percent since the start of the Industrial Revolution, a phenomenon known as ocean acidification.
• Sea-bottom temperatures above 47°F can reduce their ability to reproduce.
• Drought can also affect animal pasture and feed supplies.
• Over the next century, these areas are expected to experience decreasing water resources particularly in areas that are already experiencing droughts, population pressures, and water resources extraction.
• The cod found in the North Atlantic require water temperatures below 54°F to survive.
• Climate change is considered as a stressor that contributes to the extinction of species.
• El Nino phenomenon will intensity - When El Niño phenomenon occurs, the ocean water’s surface located in the southern Pacific becomes abnormally warm.
• The sea surface temperatures will rise - In the Philippines, an increase of about 4 to 5 degrees Celsius in the sea surface temperature have been recorded.
• Warmer seas kill coral reefs and which lead to the decline of fish supply.
• Ocean acidification - The change in the PH levels of oceans can lead to the death of coral reef.
• Sea level will rise by 4 to 6 meters - Current data shows an increase in sea level.
• Sea level rise of about 4 to 6 meters can submerge low-lying communities like Tacloban City Leyte.
• Tropical cyclones will intensity - Tropical cyclones are already recorded in areas where the phenomenon had never been observed.
• Rainfall, river flow and flooding will intensity - Monsoon rainfall in the Philippines will intensity.
• Some parts of the country will experience an upward trend in water precipitation while other parts will experience an intensification of drought.
• Democracy is derived from two Greek words, namely, demos (people) and kratos (rule) which means “rule by the people”.
• Democracy is a system of government that adheres to the rule of the people and provides people the right to exercise “some form of genuine control over government”.
• Under a democratic government, the protection of individual liberties, the conduct of free elections and the assurance of political equality are safeguarded by the state.
• Helena Catt (1999, 5–16) identifies three models of democracy: participatory democracy, direct democracy, and representative or liberal democracy.