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Rising sea levels

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As the country with one of the world’s longest coastlines, stretching more than 36,000 kilometers, and 70 percent of municipalities facing large bodies of water, the Philippines should be preparing for the impact of rising sea levels, which the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration has reported to be rising three times faster compared to global averages.

“This can cause inundation of low-lying areas, especially many of our countrymen who live on the beach,” Rosalina de Guzman, chief of the state weather bureau’s climate data section said last week.

Scientists attribute sea level rise to warming temperatures which melt the polar ice caps, causing oceans to expand.

In April, Pagasa climate scientist Dr. Marcelino Villafuerte said the sea level in the Philippines had risen by about 12 centimeters over the past two decades. According to the World Bank’s climate change portal, regional variations in the rise of sea levels exist “due to natural variability in regional winds and ocean currents, which can occur over periods of days to months or even decades.”

The WB said rising sea levels “create not only stress on the physical coastline, but also on coastal ecosystems.” “Saltwater intrusions can be contaminating freshwater aquifers, many of which sustain municipal and agricultural water supplies and natural ecosystems. As global temperatures continue to warm, sea levels will keep rising for a long time because there is a substantial lag to reaching an equilibrium,” it said.

“The magnitude of the rise will depend strongly on the rate of future carbon dioxide emissions and future global warming, and the speed might increasingly depend on the rate of glacier and ice sheet melting,” it added.

For a highly vulnerable country that has not done much to contribute to efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, there isn’t much the Philippines can do, unless its government’s priorities change. For now, coastal villages and areas will have to resign themselves to the fact that sea levels are rising and the good-old Filipino trait of resilience will have to see us and future generations through once again. Preparations to meet the rising sea levels will need to start now, and those whose homes and livelihoods are dependent on the coastline will have to keep it always in mind.*

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March 2024
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