THE PHILIPPINES’ FORUM FOR INTERNATIONAL READERS SINCE 1981 www.expatphilippines.ph
N E W S PA P E R November 22-December 5, 2015 Vol. XXXIV No. 4
The Ayala Triangle has officially turned on its contribution to fostering the spirit of Christmas with their Festival of Lights. If you haven't checked it out yet, you'd be wise to do so as it is quite a vibrant and impressive sight to behold.
Alarming climate warnings imposed prior to COP21 G
by VIA BAROMA
reenhouse gases in the atmosphere hit a new record high in 2014, according to a new report released on Nov. 9 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a UN-based research agency. In its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, the organization says that there was a 36 percent increase in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from industrial, agricultural and domestic activities, reaching 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time earlier this year at 40 carbon dioxide-monitoring stations. "We can't see CO2. It is an invisible threat, but a very real one. It means hotter global temperatures, more extreme weather events like heat waves and floods, melting ice, rising sea levels and increased acidity of the oceans. This is happening now and we are moving into uncharted territory at a frightening speed," said
WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. The WMO warns the public that the continuing relentless rise of the greenhouse gases fuels climate change resulting to a dangerous and inhospitable planet for future generations. "Every year we report a new record in greenhouse gas concentration," Jarraud said. "Every year, we say that time is running out. We have to act now to slash greenhouse gas emissions if we are to have a chance to keep the increase in temperatures to manageable levels." A separate report released on the same day by Climate Central, a US-based research group, shows that even if the world limits warming to two degrees Celsius, sea level rise would still impact land that's currently home to at least 130 million people. Climate Central added that if warming reaches 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels, land where 470 million to
760 million people will feel the impacts of the changes in the planet. Climate change will push ‘poor’ to extreme poverty by 2030 Africa and South Asia are the most threatened regions of climate related shock, according to a recent report of World Bank Group. In the same report, more than 300 million additional people were expected to be in poverty by 2030 as a result of projections. According to the report, "poorest people are more exposed than the average population" to climate-related shock such as floods, droughts, heat waves, crop failures, reduced rainfalls, food prices after extreme weather events, increased incidence of diseases. "Climate change hits the poorest the hardest, and our challenge now is to page 6 protect tens of millions of peo-
Planting Bullets, Harvesting Conspiracies by CHING DEE
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anim-bala. It is as notorious as it is infuriating. According to reports from the Department of Transportation and Communication’s Office for Transportation Security (DOTC-OTS), 2015 has the most number of reported said cases with 105 reports from January to early November. 48 of these cases are said to involve live ammunitions, which means NAIA or the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) could file legal charges against the carrier of the bullet. And this is an option MIAA has no problem prescribing, as several charges were already filed against these alleged bullet carriers, including an elderly woman, an OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers), and an American missionary. As preposterous as this tanim-bala (bulletplanting) modus may be, this has been going on as early as 2012. There were 20 cases of bullet/s found in passengers’ luggage inside NAIA in 2012, 21 in 2013, and page 2 12 in 2014, according to a report