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Media workshop focuses on climate change issues

Sunday, September 14, 2014 12:00 AM    Views : 463by:http://loqal.ph/loqal-changemaker/media-workshop-focuses-on-climate-change-issues/
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LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA—Last month's Media Seminar and Workshop on Climate Change organized by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) brought up possible solutions on climate change adaptation and mitigation. The event aimed at encouraging media practitioners to report more on the environment and put more emphasis on climate change reportage.

CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future.

The World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) Philippines defined climate change as a change of climate attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in 2007, stressed that warming of the Earth's climate system is now "unequivocal." It stated that most of the warming is believed to be the result of human activities associated with the industrial revolution. Also other factors are natural such as volcanic eruptions, changes in the Earth's orbit, and energy absorbed from the sun.

These changes on climate system not just affect humankind but are also seriously devastating the planet's ecosystem and biodiversity.

One of the books given to the media during the workshop is the "Guidebook on Mainstreaming Climate Change in Biodiversity Planning and Management in the Philippines" published by ICRAF Philippines. It cites that biodiversity and climate change are interlinked, adding that climate change has a major role in loss of biodiversity.  However, it also stressed that proper management and conservation of the biodiversity can reduce climate change impacts.

Different organizations around the world are encouraging people to act and help reduce climate change's impact on the Earth's ecosystem.

James McCarthy, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II, and the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography and Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, reported in 2001 that in some countries, climate change is already forcing species to adapt by shifting habitat and changing their life cycles. "Species that cannot adapt to the changing climate eventually die."

In 2006, World Bank reported that the Philippines is one of the most vulnerable counties to the impacts of climate change, largely due to its geographical location and physical characteristics. Also, it is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.

During one of the presentations at the workshop, Department of Energy and Natural Resources (DENR) Director for Biodiversity Management Bureau Theresa Mundita Lim said that there are ways to restore native ecosystems and one of these is to have a more concerted effort from both the government and private sectors.

"We have some protected biodiversity areas in the Philippines. Also we are working with different communities to help them to be part of the government's concerned areas," Director Lim said.

According to her, by simply surveying and maintaining the country's remaining "green patches," people could help save the ecosystem from the harmful effects of changing climate.

Second is to manage habitats for endangered species. Being home to more than 52,000 species where half are considered endemic or found nowhere else on planet, the Philippines is also marked as a biodiversity hotspot by the Conservation International in 2006.

Most of these endangered animals are having difficulty to adopt in the new system brought by climate change. According to Haribon Foundation, one of the partners of the workshop, maintaining a nursery of native tree species can help them survive and also can sustain forest restorations.

And last is to create refuges and buffer zones. According to Gloria Steele, Mission Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Philippines, adaptation is the key to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Climate change is already affecting the rainfall patterns and periods of drought in the country. Creating refuges and buffer zones can help people to adopt the new climate patterns.

Source: http://loqal.ph/loqal-changemaker/media-workshop-focuses-on-climate-change-issues/

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" Rodolfo Arambulo of Laguna, Philippines developed Multishock, a bullet type that increases the firepower and stopping power of an ordinary gun with multiple hits in a single shot. It is considered as the first of its kind in the world. "

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