CLIMATE CHANGE IS no longer avoidable, scientists say. Decades of greenhouse gas (GHG) has accumulated making the planet 0.74 degrees Celsius warmer than the recorded average temperature in pre-industrial times.
There is much cause for concern. One, signs of climate change are already observable in all parts of the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported that “there have been widespread changes in extreme temperatures, droughts have become longer and more intense, the frequency of heavy precipitation has increased over most land areas, and arctic sea ice has shrunk by 2.7 percent per decade.” (East Asia Monitor, 2007)
Unfortunately, these changes have cascading effects, which will vary from region to region. In the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, the World Bank categorized the major impacts into three distinct but highly interrelated categories: (East Asia Monitor, 2007)
Environmental. This involves changes in coastal and marine systems, forest cover and biodiversity;
Economic. Threat to water security, impacts on agriculture and fisheries, disruption of tourism, reduced energy security, which may have negative impacts on GDP; and
Social. Population displacement, loss of livelihood and increased health problems.
