It’s October 15 (Blog Action Day) and various bloggers worldwide are blogging about climate change. Please visit http://www.blogactionday.org for more info if you would like to participate.
Here’s my take on climate change…
Last September 26, 2009 Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) inundated large areas in Metro Manila, Philippines, and in the process affected a lot of people. This wasn’t just some news item in some far-flung province. For me, it struck closer to home because I actually knew people who lost their homes, vehicles, and worse, loved ones because of the calamity.
Typhoon Pepeng (Parma) soon hit the Philippines and a lot of our brothers and sisters in northern Philippines also suffered. Up to now, there are many places here that are still underwater, and people are trying to quickly recover and get this dreadful experience behind us.
Easier said than done.
Yes, some homes have been cleaned or rebuilt. Some items have been salvaged. Some previously submerged in floodwater vehicles have been repaired. Some students have gone back to school. Some of those left behind tearlessly grieve. Some people even look normal once again.
But each time the rain falls, people look at the sky and nervously smile at one another. It is all too palpable. The fear. The anxiety.
Climate change is now something more than just a phrase you read in the papers, or hear in the news. It is something you see in each others’ faces. You can hear it in the way their voice trembles. You can taste and smell it in the air. You can feel it on your skin as your heart races with each raindrop.
My goal is to make more people aware of climate change, and make it more real to others (somehow) even if they or their loved ones have not personally experienced it. Perhaps this sense of connectedness with one another will help make this herculean task less difficult.
We all try to do our share. We try to consume less electricity, conserve more water, or even keep our environment clean. But it is not a simple case of each person simply doing their own share. It needs to be a community effort which will succeed if we take the time to reach out and communicate with one another.
How can someone reach out to so many people? One way is through the internet. Through blogs, tweets, status updates, and various online media we can reach out to others and share our stories, so that we may share the effort of rebuilding.
Climate change is upon us. Just look around and you’ll see.
Fortunately, it’s not yet too late.
