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Climate Change

Climate Change is the long-term change to weather's average patterns affecting locally and globally. It is because human activities have become so active since the 1800s, primarily due to the rise of the industrial revolution. 

Climate Change is one of the most known issues regarding our Environment. It involves an around aspect because of global warming and the greenhouse effect increase that affects and damages our ozone layer.,  Changes in Climate have become a significant challenge in the modern world.

Major Issues

  • The number-one factor that causes climate change is human activity; this contributed significantly and released a vast amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere. Human activities are responsible for nearly all of the recent increase in the percentage of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, which traps heat and makes the planet hotter. Examples of Human activities include burning fossil fuels, oil drilling, manufacturing, and transportation.

  • The second issue of climate change is outdoor air pollution. This outdoor air pollution kills people. Poor air quality caused an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths; about 90% were in low and middle-income countries. In the long term, this also has been linked to higher cancer, heart disease, stroke, and asthma rates. This air pollution causes sneezing and coughing, eye irritation, headaches, and dizziness in a short time.

  • Our economy, environment, and health are all severely impacted by climate change. As the temperature rises, it has an impact on our health and poses threats to everyone, but especially to small children and the elderly. As a result, disease can spread more quickly and extreme weather events can be more intense. Increased precipitation, shifting ecosystems, and a rise in the ferocity and frequency of weather events are all contributing factors. The outcome might be low agricultural yields and short growing seasons, which would raise food costs, cause a food scarcity, pose health hazards, and even result in fatalities. These factors could also worsen the drought, make wildfires more frequent, and cause more heat waves.

Advocacy

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Project Drawdown is created to prevent further rising of greenhouse gasses which contributes to our world’s crisis and is looking forward to establishing the beginning of declining cases of climate change as soon as possible. These actions were meant to be done quickly and environmentally favorable as they practice using the latest technologies.  (click the photo for more info about Project Drawdown.)

More Major Environmental Issues Globally

Pollution: Gasses released from Power generators, Power Plants, and Chemical Productions.

Overpopulation: Teenage pregnancy.

Greenhouse Effect: Extreme energy consumption that releases carbon dioxide.

Waste Disposal: Improper waste management/Littering

Global Warming: Flood, Drought, Typhoon, Glacier meltdown.

Waste Management

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Waste Management is input from producers, users, and outputs to environment compartments, clearing the residues and reutilizing removed materials and natural resources. Involve the process of collecting waste, transportation, processing, and recycling or disposal.

“Instead of specific trash ending up in materials recovery facilities, composting sites, and hazardous waste treatment plants, it ends up piling in our scarce sanitary landfills and water bodies, causing diseases, pollution, drainage obstructions, food contamination, among many others,” De Leon said in this article

  • The Republic Act (RA) 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, provides the necessary policy framework, institutional mechanisms and mandate to the local government units (LGUs) to achieve 25% waste reduction through establishing an integrated solid waste management plans based on 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycling).

  • It is pretty effective in some ways but is not yet fully applied in every part of the Philippines. Since the waste management in the Philippines is not good. And many people just throw their waste carelessly, so I think it is ineffective in the country.

Policies

5Rs of Waste Management

  • Reduce - this waste management is easier said than done since businesses and communities have unavoidable waste produce; one example of reducing waste produce is by avoiding the use of plastic and using recyclable bags while shopping. 

  • Reuse - If stuff is old enough, stop throwing them as long as it is in good condition. Why not donate it instead? Remember the saying ", One man's trash is another man's treasure." 

  • Recycle - Paper, Cardboard, Glass, Tin, Aluminum, and plastic containers can be recycled and produce another product, so avoid throwing them. 

  • Recover - This type of management can turn waste into oil and use it for energy recovery. 

  • Residual Management - This is the final management when there is no other option; it sends waste into a landfill, sewer, or septic tank.

Pollution

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It is a variety of substances, which could be solid(plastics), liquid(oil spills), gas(burned gasoline), or energy(noise), that could contaminate the environment. When an environment is already contaminated, it could harm our environment and, in worst cases, the lives within it. It could also possibly be the cause of sudden changes in the natural cycle or climate change as we know it.

3 types of pollution that concern the Philippines

Traffic pollution

  • Formed up by vehicle exhausts and emissions, mostly occurring particularly in urban and rural areas, that evaporates and builds in the atmosphere. About 80% of the air pollution in Metro Manila came from traffic pollution 

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Plastic pollution

  • due to poor waste management, it gave rise to accumulation of plastic wastes. Caused to build up numerous waste that affects our environment, wildlife and their habitats as well as for human health. Within the plastic pollution status in the Philippines, it was considered to be shocking for most as we generate 2.7 million tons of plastic waste annually.

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Sewage pollution

  • Sewage tubes lining directly in bodies of water mostly rivers and oceans that largely contribute to marine pollution. Could be from home, schools and in usual cases, businesses

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Thing that the government had done to lessen these type of problems:

  • Republic Act No. 8749, otherwise known as the Philippine Clean Air Act, tries to achieve and maintain clean air for all Filipinos. Used to adopt specific transportation control measures to prevent excessive production of fuel emissions. Not that effective as it is visible that there are some fog-like phenomena especially in urban areas like Metro Manila where traffic pollution mostly occurs. 

  • EPR law Amending in The Republic Act (RA) 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, known to extend a producer's, responsibility on plastic waste management. Requires large companies to implement policies to manage their plastic waste as they contribute largely to plastic pollution.

  • The Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 (Republic Act No. 9275) is known to protect water resources as well as bodies of water from any kind of land-based pollutants. Not quite effective as there are cases of sewage pollution stated here in the Philippines. Most cases are from businesses by putting illegal tubes for sewage.

Advocacies of Pollution

  • Water Pollution Advocacy - Learn to throw waste in the garbage instead of in the sea. Make sure to use water where it would not be to waste, such as washing your car or cleaning where it would flow down to grass or gravel. 

  • Air Pollution Advocacy - Use less electricity since electrical consumption produces carbon dioxide that can cause air pollution and damage our atmosphere. Car owners regularly check their car engines since they could release combustion that could also release carbon dioxide. 

  • Waste Pollution Advocacy - Always keep in mind the 5Rs that we mentioned on Waste Management.

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