RCCDO SEPTEMBER 14 BULLETIN

CLIMATE CHANGE:
Should Rotary Be Concerned?
Source: Rotary.org; Ecowatch.org;
reneekarunungan.com
RI
President Ian Riseley, 2017-18
has made the case that curbing
climate change is essential to Rotary’s
goal of global service. Riseley recently
said, “Environmental degradation and
global climate change are serious threats
to everyone. They are having a disproportionate
impact on those who are the
most vulnerable, those to whom Rotary
has the greatest responsibility.”
The rainy season has come once again
and for many communities in the Philippines,
this means getting ready for
strong typhoons.
This also means evacuation, damaged
crops, and floods. June to September
has always been the months where
typhoons visit the country most but
with changing weather patterns, typhoon
season has extended to November
and December. Typhoon
Yolanda (Haiyan) happened in November
2013, Typhoon Ruby
(Hagupit) in December.
year? Or will we just continue with the
phrase, “The Filipino spirit is waterproof”
for every disaster that will hit us?
Haiyan, Thelma, Ike, Fengshen, Washi,
Durian, Bopha, Trix, Amy, Nina. These
are the 10 deadliest typhoons of the
Philippines between 1947 and 2014.
What’s alarming is that five of the 10
have occurred since 2006, affecting and
displacing thousands of citizens every
time. Seven of these 10 deadly storms
each resulted in more than 1,000 casualties.
But the deadliest storm on record
in the Philippines is Typhoon Haiyan,
known locally as Typhoon Yolanda,
which was responsible for more than
6,300 lost lives, more than four million
displaced citizens and $2 billion in damages
in 2013.
The question is, after all the typhoons
we’ve gone through, after all
the lives we have lost, have we
learned our lesson? Are we ready to
face the onslaught of the next 20
typhoons that will come our way this
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