UCSP

• Climate change


  The rise in the average surface temperatures on Earth due to the burning of fossil fuels (e.g., coal and oil) that releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the air. Such gases trap heat within the atmosphere and cause this occurrence.
• Causes of climate change

  • Human activities like agriculture and deforestation also contribute to the spread of the said greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
• Indicators of climate change

  • Higher temperatures
  • Changing rainfall
  • Change in nature
  • Declining Arctic sea-ice
  • Retreating glaciers
  • Rise in sea level
  • Shrinking ice sheets
• Environmental impacts of climate change

  • Rise in sea levels because of the melting of polar ice caps
  • Severe weather events like frequent storms, droughts, heat waves
  • Health risks caused by the spread of numerous diseases
• Social impacts of climate change

  • Rapid urbanization as rural families who have lost their lands migrate to the city
  • Change in health and population-related policies that result as individuals affected by diseases alter the composition of society
• Countries all over the world agree that the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases must be reproduced to protect our planet from the dangers of climate change.
• Achieving goals to prevent climate change

  1. Transformation in the way energy is produced

  2. Transformation in how action plans are designed
• The key to preventing climate change is to stop relying on fossil fuels.
• Transitioning towards sustainable energy technologies holds the key to long-term energy security.
• El Niño


  A large-scale oceanographic/meteorological phenomenon that develops in the Pacific Ocean. It brings about unusually warm ocean temperatures and droughts.
• La Niña


  A weather phenomenon characterized by unusually cool ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. It increases the average ocean surface water temperature in the region and causes heavy rains, floods, and landslides.
• El Niño and La Niña are parts of the global climate cycle. Records of these go back millions of years with evidence found in ice cores, deep-sea cores, coral, and tree rings. They occur when the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere above it change from their normal state.
• Climate change


  A change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.
• Global responses to climate change

  • Rio Declaration of Environment and Development
  • Kyoto Protocol
  • Paris Agreement
• Rio Declaration of Environment and Development

  • Defined the rights of the individuals involved in the development of their economies
  • Highlighted their responsibilities to safeguard the environment
  • The basic ideas of such declaration connected the attitudes of individuals and nations towards the environment and development were first identified at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (1972)
  • Long-term economic progress is only ensured if it is linked with the protection of the environment
  • Nations must establish a new global partnership to protect the global environment through responsible development
• Salient provisions of the Rio Declaration (1992)

  • All human societies are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature
  • Modern development should not threaten the needs of both present and future generations
  • Environmental protection is an integral part of the development process
  • The participation of involved citizens helps solve environmental issues
• Kyoto Protocol

  The first legally binding agreement among nations to mandate the reduction of greenhouse emissions. It was negotiated in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan and formally took effect in February 2005. It was developed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which vowed to stabilize greenhouse-gas concentrations that stimulate global warming.
• Key provisions of the Kyoto Protocol (1997)

  • Place restrictions on their biggest polluters
  • Manage transportation to reduce emissions from motorized vehicles
  • Make better use of renewable energy sources in place of fossil fuels
• Paris Agreement


  An agreement made in December 2015 by 195 countries to pursue a global action plan to avoid climate change by limiting global warming to below 2°C.
• Significant points of the Paris Agreement

  • Ask support from the EU and other developed countries in building resilience
  • Empower local government to address climate change issues
  • Promote transparency and accountability
  • Reduce emissions
  • Strengthen adaptive capacities of societies
• Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM)


  The systematic process of using administrative directives, organizations, and operational skills and capacities to implement strategies, policies, and improve coping capacities in order to lessen the adverse impacts of hazards and the possibility of disaster.
• The Philippines has placed DRRM as a core element with the structure of its government due to being both a developing country and a hotbed of natural disaster.
• Frequent natural disasters in the Philippines

  • Typhoons
  • Earthquakes
  • Volcanic eruptions
• Disaster


  An event or occurrence that has the potential to cause injuries to life and damage to property and the environment.
• Types of hazards


  • Natural (e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, and volcanic eruptions)
  • Both natural and man-made (e.g., landslides, floods, drought, and fires)
• Vulnerability


  A set of prevailing or consequential conditions which adversely affect the community's ability to prevent, mitigate, prepare for, and respond to hazardous events.
• Capacities


  Resources, means, and strengths, which exist in households and in the community. These enable the people to cope with, withstand, prepare for, prevent, mitigate, or recover from disaster.
• Phases of DRRM activities

  • Disaster Prevention and Mitigation
  • Disaster Preparedness
  • Disaster Response
  • Disaster Recovery and Rehabilitation
• Because of the changing weather patterns in the Philippines, almost three-quarters of the population is considered vulnerable to natural hazards.
• The annual average direct damage to disasters in the Philippines ranges from Php 5 billion to Php 15 billion from 1970 to 2009, and natural disasters claim an annual average of about 1,000 casualties.
• Deadliest disasters in the Philippines in the last decade

  • 4 typhoons
  • 1 tropical depression
• The government of the Philippines has made many attempts in improving disaster management in the country with the aid of Asian neighbors and other international networks.
• Transnational migration


  The process by which individuals or groups of people migrate from one country to another.
• Social changes due to transnational migration

  • Modification in the population composition, either by an increase or a decrease of occupants
  • Alteration in the social dynamics as migrants establish religious and ethnic networks
• Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW)


  A Filipino who chooses to work abroad in search of "greener pasture", usually due to unemployment and poverty in the Philippines.
• The high rate of migration of Filipinos to other countries has caused the brain drain phenomenon, which is the decreasing number of skilled and competent members of the labor force.
• OFWs remit millions of pesos annually to give a lift to the Philippines' struggling economy and are considered modern-day patriots or "Bagong Bayani" for choosing to provide for their families in unfamiliar territories.
• Networking


  The exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, and institutions.
• Mobile media


  • Portable devices like iOS- and Android-based smartphones, which have the ability to connect to the internet via WiFi or Wireless Wide Area Networks, utilizing touchscreen technology.
• Web-based media


  • Applications, sites, blogs, and wikis that enable rapid communication and easy access to various forms of media.