Mindfully Greenie
Only nature could have caused activities to come to a grinding halt in huge metropolitan cities in the United States like Washington, New York, Philadelphia and other states. Epic winter storm ‘Jonas’ dumped heavy snow, a reported 40 inches in West Virginia, wind gusts as strong as 85 mph along the Atlantic coast, and coastal flooding in New Jersey.
Travel ban was imposed in New York, with anyone driving after a cut-off time to be subjected to arrest. More people in the streets meant longer time to remove the snow and respond to emergencies.
Power outages were also reported. People living in Cebu and tropical areas cannot imagine how it is to be without power amid the freezing temperature of winter.
Needless to stay, the all-time record snowfall, ice and blizzard conditions brought by ‘Jonas’ compelled airlines to cancel 10,700 flights between Friday to Sunday, including mine.
The dreaded announcement came as our plane was nearing touchdown at Narita International Airport. With a travel waiver from the airline company, I decided to wait for the storm to pass in Atlanta, keeping my fingers crossed that by today I will be able to reach my intended destination.
Most local chief executives in the affected cities not only declared State of Emergencies, but were visible in media and social networks and busy updating their constituents of the contingency plans.
They emphasized that citizens should stay in their homes and off the streets, prioritize personal safety and those of the personnel who had to assist them, unless of course there were threatening life issues.
I could not help but compare the public sector’s response to Winter storm “Jonas” to ours. The much-needed political will and clarity to decide by local chief executives based on public safety was in full display, unlike in the Philippines. Much as we don’t want to admit it, we still have very weak implementation of evacuation orders and utter lack of preparedness, as well. Blaming would then become a favorite pastime, after the contingency occurs.
It is high time to start to take storms and disasters, seriously. They are on the increase, and are more intense, because of climate change. We can no longer feign ignorance on this matter.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), “The global average surface temperature in 2015 is likely to be the warmest on record and to reach the symbolic and significant milestone of 1°Celsius above the pre-industrial era. This is due to a combination of a strong El Niño and human-induced global warming.”
“Global warming is making hot days hotter, rainfall and flooding heavier, hurricanes stronger and droughts more severe. This intensification of weather and climate extremes will be the most visible impact of global warming in our everyday lives. It is also causing dangerous changes to the landscape of our world, adding stress to wildlife species and their habitat.” (www.nwf.org)
And, we cannot pretend to be oblivious of the fact that, in developing countries like ours, massive displacements among the hardest hit among us, the marginalized sector, are taking place, with high social and economic costs.
Most of all, we need to take stock of how to shift to lessen our dependency on fossil fuels and go for a green energy future.
On a global scale, governments and business have started to speak out about development and climate and the much-needed sense of responsibility to do something about the human-induced climate challenges.
Last December, the historic Paris Summit’s Agreement (COP21) gave hope that finally, countries are facing the grave issue squarely and will adapt to a low-carbon economy soonest.
But, as Ms. Christiana Figueres, the Executive Director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change quipped, during the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that “the COP21 was a success, but that was the easy part.”
Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General, is hopeful that the Paris Agreement will be ratified in April by at least 65 countries for it to be in full force and effect.
It is heartwarming that during the WEF Summit, actor Leonardo DiCaprio committed to give through his namesake Foundation a $5-million grant to the Rainforest
Action Network to preserve natural habitats, the Solutions Project to conduct alternative energy research, and the Global Fishing Watch, https://globalfishingwatch.org/, a partnership among Google, Oceana and SkyTruth, to reduce overfishing in the world’s oceans.
We need more enlightened leaders like him to be conscientious partners of the growing numbers of our Earth’s defenders.
The road ahead to a genuine transformation to a low-carbon economy is in the hands not just of government, but of members of civil society and business working together to leave a legacy of a sustainable future to our children and their children.
I like what US Secretary of State John Kerry said about us “not being prisoners of a predetermined future.” There is still time for us to shift gears and build a healthy, just and livable home planet. That time is Now.