UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
Here I am in Christchurch, on the South Island, the pristine and green Garden City of New Zealand, preparing to return home to the Philippines, with the news that Super Typhoon Man-yi a.k.a. Pepito, just made landfall in Luzon, wondering if my flight will be able to land safely in Manila.
Pepito is not the first catastrophe to hit the country, nor will it be the last this year. Typhoons are increasing in frequency and intensity year after year, both in wind speed and precipitation. This is more than ample proof that we are in a climate crisis, and no longer just climate change. The Philippines is the most vulnerable country to climate change, being in the main path of tropical cyclones emanating in the Pacific Ocean.
At the same time, the Conference of Parties 29 (COP29), had just concluded, with no perceptible shift in future action to mitigate climate change. In fact, it was held in Azerbaijan, a country almost fully dependent on fossil fuels for its survival.
While activists demanded more be done to support countries most impacted by climate change, the countries most at fault must give more than what has already been raised, which is $115.9 billion. Activists claim more must be given, not just billions but trillions, and not just in loans but outright grants. The other problem is that the COP29 has been infiltrated by companies with fossil fuel interests, which will dilute whatever decisions were made. It seems that developed nations are unwilling, or unable to give more.
Ironically, while most climate catastrophes have hit the global south, Spain had just been experiencing disastrous flooding, which brings the issue home to the developed European countries. That should prompt the EU to consider giving more for climate mitigation efforts.
This just in: China, India and Indonesia have just been announced as having increased their emissions this year. These are the three most populous nations in the world. On a per capita basis, they are not the worst polluters, except for China being responsible for 30 percent of global emissions. But it drives home the point that overpopulation is the main culprit of climate change.
There are now 8.2 billion human beings on the planet. All of us have our own carbon footprints, whether we like it or not. The earth was not designed to be host to such a humongous number of humans, because we have to share it with other living beings, plant and animal, that play a part in maintaining our ecosystem. As we aspire to have more in life, we put more strain on the environment, leaving no room for the rest of the earth’s beings.
Meanwhile, in the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, a climate sceptic, has just been elected to serve a second term. In his first term, he rolled back climate regulations and pulled the USA out of the Paris Agreement. He will certainly fulfill his promise to “drill, baby drill” and terminate spending on the “green new deal,” referring to the landmark Inflation Reduction Act. If he follows through on this, it will mean a $400 billion reduction on climate change initiatives. Yet the USA is the world’s second largest emitter of carbon and has the greatest historical responsibility for current warming.
This convergence of events is a bad omen, foretelling a grim future for all of us, climate-wise. While it impacts all of us, the younger generations have the most to lose. We older folks will no longer be around to witness climate armageddon, and they surely will.
As more and more animal and plant species go extinct, the ecosystem will begin to collapse, since it relies on a precarious balance between all beings, sentient or not. Keeping humans fed will be a challenge, with the use of pesticides killing bee populations, which pollinate many crops. A massive drop in crop production will lead to famine and with that, unrest. As people become desperate for food, there will be riots, looting and general disorder. The breakdown of human society will lead to further chaos, and we will be back to the primordial survival of the fittest mode.
While this apocalyptic vision is bad for us humans, it is nature’s way of restoring that we have upset. In the end, there is no one to blame but ourselves, and the leaders we have chosen. The future of Earth hangs in the balance, which is rapidly tilting toward a doomsday scenario.
Nature will slowly but surely restore balance. It may take millions of years, but it will, with new species born and older ones which can’t cope, die out. Whether this includes Homo sapiens remains to be seen.