Flood, fire and plague: Climate change blamed for disasters

SINGAPORE - Extreme floods in Venice, fires in Australia and even an outbreak of plague in China have been attributed to climate change this week, while researchers have warned that global warming could saddle future generations with life-long illness.

Venice declared a state of emergency on Wednesday after "apocalyptic" floods swept through the lagoon city, flooding its historic basilica and inundating squares and centuries-old buildings.

"This is the result of climate change," city mayor Luigi Brugnaro said on Twitter.

City thoroughfares were turned into raging torrents, stone balustrades were shattered, boats tossed ashore and gondolas smashed against their moorings as the lagoon tide peaked at 187 centimeters.

It was the highest since the record 194 centimeters set in 1966, but rising water levels are becoming a regular threat to the tourist jewel.

"Venice is on its knees," said Brugnaro. "The damage will run into hundreds of millions of euros."

On the other side of the world, parts of Australia have been ravaged by wild bushfires this week, with four people killed and communities forced to flee the flames.

Since 2016, parts of northern and inland New South Wales, along with southern Queensland, have been in a drought that the Bureau of Meteorology says is being driven, in part, by warmer sea-surface temperatures affecting rainfall patterns.

Air temperatures have also warmed over the past century, increasing the ferocity of droughts and fires.

But links between climate change and extreme weather events have become a political football in Australia.

The coal-industry supporting government accepts the need to cut emissions while arguing that stronger environmental action would cripple its economy.

That pits the country against its Pacific island neighbors which are particularly susceptible to warmer temperatures and rising seas.

Globally, concern about effective action has surged since U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the international Paris Accord on climate change and took steps to dismantle environmental protections.

Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro are among the world's only leaders who publicly question the science of climate change, despite devastating fires in their countries - in California and the Amazon basin - that environmentalists at least partly blame on global warming.

PLAGUE

While the politicians argue, concern is growing about the impact on health of a warmer world.

In China, health officials have reported a rare outbreak of pneumonic plague after two cases were confirmed this week in Beijing.

The two were infected in the province of Inner Mongolia, where rodent populations have expanded dramatically after persistent droughts, worsened by climate change, state media said.

An area the size of the Netherlands was hit by a "rat plague" last summer.

The wider implications for health are sobering.

The Lancet medical journal published a study this week saying climate change was already harming people's health by increasing the number of extreme weather events and exacerbating air pollution.

A warmer world brings risks of food shortages, infectious diseases, floods, and extreme heat.

If nothing is done, the impacts could burden an entire generation with disease and illness throughout their lives, researchers said.

"Children are particularly vulnerable to the health risks of a changing climate. Their bodies and immune systems are still developing, leaving them more susceptible to disease and environmental pollutants," said Nick Watts, one of those who led the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change study.

Health damage in early childhood is "persistent and pervasive," he warned, bringing lifelong consequences.

"Without immediate action from all countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, gains in wellbeing and life expectancy will be compromised, and climate change will come to define the health of an entire generation," he told a London briefing.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Facebook makes it simple to see if friends are safe

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook on Monday made it simpler to see whether friends have checked in as "safe" on the online platform during disasters or other dangerous events.

A Safety Check feature was given its own dedicated tab along with friends, groups, events and other main categories at the leading social network's mobile application and desktop pages, according to the California-based company.

"Safety Check helps our community let loved ones know they are safe during a crisis, find and give help, as well as learn more about a crisis," Facebook said in an online post.

"There's now a single place to go to see where Safety Check has recently been activated, get the information you need and potentially be able to help affected areas."

The modification began rolling out on Monday.

Facebook added the Safety Check feature 3 years ago as a way for people to check on the well-being of loved ones during natural disasters.

It broadened to include terrorism and other major violence after horrific attacks in Paris in 2015.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

PH gets $500-M World Bank credit line to reduce disaster risk

MANILA - The Philippines has secured a $500 million credit line from the World Bank to support efforts to manage risks posed by natural disasters.

The Southeast Asian country can get access to the credit line if its president declares a state of calamity, the bank said in a statement.

It is the second such financing option the bank has provided the Philippines, which is the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to use such a credit line.

"If not managed well, disasters can roll back years of development gains and plunge millions of people into poverty," World Bank Country Director Motoo Konishi said.

The Philippines is frequently hit by natural disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, with on average more than 1,000 people killed every year, most of them by the 20 or more typhoons that hit annually.

In 2013, typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,300 people and left 1.4 million homeless in the central Philippines.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Horrifying' tornado spares Filipino pastor's church

MANILA – Many Filipinos were spared from the onslaught of the destructive tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma City.

The church of Filipino pastor Paul de Guzman remained intact even after the tornado swept houses and buildings just a few meters away.

"Yung church andun sa Moore mismo, dalawang bloke lang ang layo sa dinaanan ng tornado," de Guzman said.

De Guzman said his other Filipino friends survived the horrifying disaster.

"Na-damage yung roof pero ok naman sila. Yung isa naman dumaan sa likod ng bahay nila pero hindi na-damage yung bahay nila, mga debris lang kumalat doon," he said.

But beyond lost homes, some Filipinos also lost their jobs and livelihood after establishments they are working for were totally wiped out by the tornado.

"One of our family friends, her daughter, she works in bank, but the bank got blown away so she has no job right now," said Bruce Umali.

Power and communication are still being restored in most parts of the tornado-hit area and security is tight to prevent looting.

"Mga sundalo natin dito at mga pulis nagbabantay sila dahil mayroon nahuling naglo-looting," said De Guzman.

"No one is allowed in or out of the city where the tornado hit they are cleaning up the power lines and gas lines," added Umali.

De Guzman and Umali received no report of any Filipino casualty as of yet and they hope to get more stories of survival from their fellow countrymen in Oklahoma.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

MMDA: Metro Manila must be ready for 'big jolt'

MANILA, Philippines - As part of preparations for a situation where a strong earthquake strikes the metropolis, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) unveiled a plan to form so-called earthquake-control bayanihan zone alliances.

“The game plan of the earthquake bayanihan zone alliance is the same as the flood-control bayanihan zone alliance whose programs have been fine-tuned by the agency during flooding situations,” MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said on Thursday.

He told reporters the set-up is similar to the formation last year of the flood-control bayanihan zones, community-based alliances that address flooding and other disasters in a given area.

In a related development, Tolentino said they will reactivate the “Oplan Metro Yakal” on Sunday, February 12. Here, agency personnel along with those from local government units (LGU), the communities, private sector and non-government organizations, will update their earthquake drill preparedness.

Oplan Metro Yakal is the agency’s overall readiness plan for responding to earthquakes and other calamities in the metropolis. Prior to the drill, participants will gather at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila for a briefing, after which they will be deployed to four sites in the metropolis to simulate their response after a major earthquake takes place.

The four sites identified under Oplan Metro Yakal as assembly areas and evacuation sites for victims are the Wack-wack Golf Club in the east, Intramuros Golf Club in the west, Villamor Airbase in the south, and the Veterans Golf Club in the north. The reclamation area along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay City was also designated as a “temporary mass burial site” for disaster fatalities.

The Oplan was unveiled last year also at the Quirino Grandstand. Here, MMDA personnel showcased their rescue equipment and first-aid tools and key items they will need to rescue people trapped in a collapsed building, as well as specially-designed suits used by emergency personnel in case chemical accidents take place.

Some 145 items of heavy equipment for flood control and clearing operations such as trucks, cranes and container vans carrying smaller equipment were also brought in order to showcase the MMDA’s capabilities.

Some 3, 500 agency personnel attended the event where they were briefed and trained on how to respond to disasters. Earlier, the MMDA said it will beef up its rescue and emergency equipment to augment those already pre-positioned in critical areas in and around the metropolis.

“We will boost the number of container vans containing powerful emergency and rescue equipment like hydraulic tools for cutting and digging through debris as well as fire-fighting equipment which are already pre-positioned in several barangays in Metro Manila,” the MMDA chief said.

The MMDA has deployed 22 such vans loaded with rescue and first-aid equipment needed for search and rescue operations in high-risk areas in Manila, Pasig, Quezon City and Marikina as part of the agency’s contingency plan dubbed “Oplan Metro Yakal” in case an earthquake similar to the one that struck Japan in March 2011 happens here.

The contingency plan of the MMDA was prepared based on studies and recommendations of experts from Japan, Tolentino added. Besides these, Tolentino said the MMDA trained some 18, 000 volunteers including community leaders and homeowners in Metro Manila on disaster awareness and response.

Earthquake damage scenario

A 2004 study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), MMDA and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) showed that Metro Manila is vulnerable to powerful earthquakes. Dubbed the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact reduction Study (MMEIRS), the study showed a 7.2 magnitude quake would result in 34,000 people killed instantly; 110,000 injured; 13 percent of 170,000 residential buildings heavily damaged or collapsed rendering 1.2 million people homeless; around 25 percent of critical public facilities like hospitals and schools moderately damaged; and 500 fire breakouts.

The study also said 4,000 water supply points would be cut immediately with damage to reservoirs and water purification plants causing major long-term water shortages; 30 kilometers of electricity cables cut with drastic power failure across the city for several weeks if not longer and 100 kilometers of telecommunications cables cut with services suspended for several weeks if not longer.

Metro Manila is crisscrossed by major fault lines, one of which, the West Valley fault line, is one of three cutting across the metropolis. The other two are the Manila Bay and Manila Trench fault lines. The last big earthquake that hit Metro Manila and the rest of central and northern Luzon in July 1990 killed 1,700 people and damaged billions of pesos in property.

PHIVOLCS maps show that 27 subdivisions, at least five major roads and 34 barangays in Metro Manila are covered by the west valley fault line. The agency thus recommended that structures within 70-90 kms of the fault not be allowed.

Experts said that, following the usual cycle of earth movements, the next movement on this faultline may be soon. Per their studies, a strong earthquake along this faultline happens every 200-400 years. Experts estimated that the last movement happened between the 1600s and 1800s.


source: interaksyon.com