Consistent with the green image of greenhorn Prez Barack Obama, the United States embassy in Manila has recently sponsored a series of talks on the state of the Philippine environment. The lectures were given by Larry Heaney of Chicago’s Field Museum, Kent Carpenter of Old Dominion University and Jeff Reid of the Naval Research Center in Washington DC.
It is no secret that Mother America knows much about her now independent daughter. While she may have been frustrated that her daughter turned out quite different “from her own image”, she still has an interest or even a stake in her. It is in this context that the lectures are significant. In 1908-1909, the first systematic environmental surveys of the Philippines were made upon direct orders from President Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt requested the Congress to allocate money for “scientific exploration of the Philippine Islands”. Congress obliged and the task of doing so fell on the National Academy of Science. So we had the landmark Albatross expedition that remains the most extensive survey of Philippine seas to date. American botanists inventoried our plant diversity. The records of their works are in the Philippine Journal of Science. Unfortunately you will have to travel to the USA to get access to a complete set of the tomes. I haven’t found a library in the Philippines with a complete set. Blame the Japanese for setting on fire the libraries in 1945. :-(
Heaney placed his talk squarely on this important American effort. The American forest surveys in 1909 provided us the important baseline to assess the extent of forest loss 100 years later. Heaney’s prognosis is grim but there are some signs of hope. First of all is the Palanan wilderness which has remains almost as is when General Aguinaldo was captured by Funston in 1902. Second are our mountain areas some of which like Isarog are receiving protection. Heaney has worked on Philippine mammals for almost 40 years and described more than 20 new species. His effort has resulted in a scientific theory to explain biotic evolution in the Philippines.
Heaney’s most controversial statement in the lecture which floored the US diplomats in the Chuck Parsons ballroom is this
“Overseas migration of Filipino workers has saved the Philippine environment!”
Heaney believes that massive migration has reduced pressure on the environment. The global economic recession may make things worse as Pinoy workers begin to return home to an increasingly crowded Philippines.
Kent Carpenter had the same idea in his talk at DLSU about the marine environment. The major threat to the marine environment is deforestation brought about by population growth coupled with poverty.
Overseas migration is not only a social and economic safety valve but an environmental one as well. We know that successive Philippine governments are propped up by remittances. The environmental dimension to the OFW phenomena is something I never realized.
Jeff Reid’s talk in Ateneo is about aerosols and climate change. The US Navy is funding research on improving satellite remote sensing in tropical regions. Reid is looking for Filipino collaborators and is willing to take on interested PhD students to his lab. Aerosols make it difficult to calibrate and validate satellite data.
Atmospheric aerosols are linked with rainfall deficits and shifts. Increasing aerosol levels in the upper atmosphere seems to be most noticeable in Southeast Asia. Reid presented an animated climate model from US naval satellite data and I suddenly realized why the navy is so keen about Southeast Asia.
THERE WAS A PERSISTENT BLOB OR CLOUD OF AEROSOLS FLOATING OVER THE SPRATLYS!
Of course Reid never mentioned the security implications of his research but it was patently obvious. If American satellites can’t validate what’s happening under that cloud, then we do have a national security problem.
We don’t know for sure why there is that persistent aerosol cloud. Reid said that in Brazil, there is a similar cloud but that disappears every January and comes back in July. Perhaps it’s because the Indonesians are setting their forests on fire or volcanoes like Pinatubo are still spewing gases. If you are a conspiracy theorist, you can say the Chinese used their hairspray! :-)
So the VFA issue came to my mind. There is a science component to the VFA more than the Nicole issue.
This is something we Pinoy scientists have to ponder upon.
At the end of his talk Reid showed the US navy sat pic of the Asian side of the globe at night. Everything is lit up. If there is a country on perpetual Earth Hour, it is none other but North Korea!
BTW one of our PhD students, Mon Romero just passed his examinations for the PhD in environmental science last Friday. I was on the thesis examination panel as reader and I congratulate Mon for surviving the tough questioning of his panel which included the country’s top senior environmental scientists.
His dissertation is on crab fisheries and environment change. One of his disturbing conclusions is that crabs need a predictable summer season to complete their life cycle. They need calm seas in order to find suitable habitats to settle once they get out of the plankton.
With our weird summer weather (we still have “amihan” on Holy Week and its raining), the crabs are in for a hard time. If the seasons become very unpredictable in the future, expect the fishery to collapse, Dr Mon Romero says.
So please keep this in mind when you eat alimasag
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‘This is something we Pinoy scientists have to ponder upon.’
Dunno? Do you need no opinion?
Before we look at the sky and the sea, look at the ground! It’s a no brainer, if you ask me.
Filipino environmental scientists must realize that the biggest danger is from these ‘garbage dumps’ which affect the water supply.
What is closest to Mr. DJ and Mang Pandoy is solid waste management.
You Filipino science guys are just clueless if you continue to parrot the environmental mantra from the West. Pinoys will die, not from climate change, but from bacteria, cholera, intestinal flu, salmonella, etc.
If Pinas will just allow foreigners to buy Pinas land, then Pinas can save more and larger tracts of land from Pinoy kaingeros and/or Pinoy illegal loggers. As long, of course, as you sell the land to Europeans or Americans versus Chinese corporations who want to put up large farmlands to feed Chip Tsao and others like him.
Well you won’t have water if it doesn’t rain. BTW don’t forget deforestation went overdrive under American rule.
Also Americans are also dying and will die from diseases they thought curable as a result of global environment changes. Think of multidrug resistant TB.
Again you are shackled by narrow minded thinking.
“THERE WAS A PERSISTENT BLOB OR CLOUD OF AEROSOLS FLOATING OVER THE SPRATLYS!”
my first thought was… man, someone’s using a lot of hair spray in the spratlys! :)
That’s exactly what I thought at first when I heard Jeff Reid inform us of the aerosols. :-) Now does Chip Tsao have permed hair? LOL! :-)
You beat me to it, GabbyD :0
Could this be related evedn to the Chip Tsao affair? :)
But seriously, blackshama, you have given all of us a timely heads up on the issue.
Salamat, Prof :)
Shama,
Question on our hospital wastes:
Because of the clean air act, hospitals are not allowed to use incinerators.
They have suggested a new way of disposing of hospital waste, but sorry no budget.
So we don’t actually have a hospital waste management to speak of.
Am I correct in this observation?
So that explains the changes in the weather pattern?
So that explains the changes in the climate pattern?
To avoid any disconnect.
By complying to the clean air act, we neglect an actionable way of managing our watse. So we tried to comeup with this clean air act, but what about our garbage.
The last time I heard the environment does not only involve the atmosphere.
so I somehow agree with this comment:
……”if you continue to parrot the environmental mantra from the West. Pinoys will die, not from climate change, but from bacteria, cholera, intestinal flu, salmonella, etc.”
i agree. laws can sometimes ignore realities and constraints.
so, hospital wastes are going where now? landfills? i thought i would be obvious to exempt hospital wastes from rules governing HH and other kinds of commercial wastes
Actually the Philippine Congress parroted the environmental Mantra from California! yeeeeeeeeesh!
hi, thanks to your comment on libraries, i came up with this:
FO: Philippine Journal of Science (1906-1949) – http://filipinolibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/04/fo-philippine-journal-of-science-1906.html
i hope you find it useful =)
Our country is blessed with diversity of plants and animal species.
We have to protect the environment. OFWs or not, the good environment
of the country is the only good inheritance that we can give to the
next generation. North Korea is a starving country, that tries to
produce nuclear weapons. Kim Jong Il is a crazy leader. His people
are starving. and he wants to research for Rocket launch missiles
disguised as communication satellite. Our Filipino Communists should
take notice on this kind of government that they are fighting. You
are hungry and cannot complain. At least, even when we are hungry
we can shout at our leaders.
oh, one question:
“Heaney’s most controversial statement in the lecture which floored the US diplomats in the Chuck Parsons ballroom is this
“Overseas migration of Filipino workers has saved the Philippine environment!””
any proof? was it convincing?
So many things to clean up in the Philippines. Last time I went home, got my asthma re-activated because of too much particulate in the air courtesy of smokebelching cars and jeepneys. Then I noticed a lot of burning of garbage in the neighborhood. Then I learned that a lot of houses, domestic waste just get dumped into the rivers. Visited a place where I grew up and saw the tailings pond that has been around for years and years while all the gold and silver was mined for US investors for nearly a century. Where to begin?
There should be expiry date on jeepneys and must pass a test for emissions
Barangay captains should inspect all houses to make sure that there is proper waste disposal in place.
Fine for all violators
Education of young minds on sustainability and environment
A fund for planting trees and tax credit for environmental donations
Rehabilitation funds for mines and periodic checks even if the mines have closed down
Higher taxes on sin vices such as cigarettes to be directed to environment
Sermon of priest about environmental responsibilities of citizenry
These are some ideas floating in my brain but something has to be done if the Phil. has to be cleaned up