The El Nino Phenomenon: Are We Party to the Worsening Condition?

Rains, and now drought? The sudden shift of weather pattern is really very bothering. For the past week, all I’ve been hearing from the local news was the havoc that El Nino is inflicting to the agriculture in Northern Luzon, Panay Island and parts of Mindanao. The irony of this was our situation during the last quarter of 2009, when we experienced the heaviest rains. Many of us that time were probably praying that the rain would stop; the rain was so furious that most cities in our country were either flooded or soaked with mud.

According to scientists, El Nino is a weather pattern that occurs in tropical Pacific Ocean on average every five years; it is associated with droughts, floods and other weather disturbances in many regions of the world. Mostly affected by ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) are countries around the pacific region, and that is certainly where we are. No wonder why we are experiencing this seemingly crazy weather. As of present, the government estimated the loss to agricultural products to more than a billion pesos, but this could go as high as 2 billion pesos or at worst less than 3 billions.

Many Scientists believe that global warming will worsen the effects of El Nino, that it will bring more and stronger typhoons to us. We can therefore conclude that man has a part on this. But it’s not yet late, we can reverse global warming by becoming responsible individuals and by pushing our legislators to enact laws that will protect our environment. Let us remember that this is the only planet we have. Are you with me on this?