Human tragedy, floods, landslides and more intense frequent typhoons are still to come after recent climate change-driven natural disasters. How natural are they? Clearly, science shows they are the result of human activity; of the non-stop burning fossil fuels causing global warming.
The Earth has become warmer since 1890, the start of the industrial age. June 2023 was thought to be the hottest ever in recorded history but then July was even hotter across the globe—the hottest in about 120,000 years. That triggers the disasters. We have to stop burning coal, oil and gas in power stations to generate energy and build many more that use renewable energy sources of energy.
Try putting your pet gold fish in a bowl of warm water. It will soon die. Millions of fish in the oceans die because of the warming of the oceans due to climate change and human-generated global warming. In March 2016, the highest ever recorded ocean temperature was 20.95 degrees Celsius. That was then this was surpassed in July 2023 when sea surface temperature was recorded at 20.96C, then in August 2023 that was surpassed with a temperature of 20.96C.
If this continues, as it will, there are dire consequences for the planet and humans that live and survive on it. Wasteful lifestyles and the burning of fossil fuels, coal, gas and oil are causing this. Millions of poor don’t have electricity and cause no damage but they suffer the consequence of excessive lifestyles. The greed for more oil profits drives the subsidising of oil exploration like what the UK announced on July 31.
This tiny blue dot in the emptiness of a vast universe, our fragile and sensitive planet, is being changed by humans as never before in its more than four billion years of existence. The warmer oceans threaten the livelihoods of millions of fisher folk around the globe and especially in the Philippines. As many as 56 million people depend on fishing worldwide and fish and seafood is the source of half of animal protein and nutrition in poor countries.
Wasteful lifestyles and the burning of fossil fuels, coal, gas and oil are causing this. Millions of poor don’t have electricity and cause no damage but they suffer the consequence of excessive lifestyles. The greed for more oil profits drives the subsidising of oil exploration like what the UK announced on July 31
The survival of millions of people depends on a day’s catch and fish are very scarce. Warmer water drives the fish deeper for food and cooler temperatures. Besides, minerals that fish feed on are diminishing.
In the magazine, Science, a study shows that fish populations around China and Japan have diminished by up to 35 per cent. The warmer ocean temperatures have caused a four per cent reduction in fish netted by legal fishing in recent years.
The warmer ocean is forcing fish to migrate north to relatively cooler waters. The poor need fish as food. According to Our World Data, the world produces an estimated 200 million tons of fish and seafood every year, including farmed fish. The ocean fish are being depleted at an unprecedented rate.
“It is sobering to see this change happening so quickly,” Professor Mike Burrows, a marine scientist in Scotland, said. He is a witness to the global sea warming phenomenon threatening our survival.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
The oceans are vital for the survival of Earth the hold about 96.5 per cent of the planet’s water. They absorb 25 per cent of the CO2 released into the atmosphere by industry and the oceans grab and hold 90 per cent of the excess heat created by these emissions. That’s why they are warming, how much more can they take?
The oceans are vital for the survival of Earth the hold about 96.5 per cent of the planet’s water. They absorb 25 per cent of the CO2 released into the atmosphere by industry and the oceans grab and hold 90 per cent of the excess heat created by these emissions. That’s why they are warming, how much more can they take?
They are massive “carbon absorbers.” Without them, we might all be dead because the oceans supply no less than 50 per cent of the Earth’s oxygen.
The warmer oceans are melting the arctic glaciers faster, too, and water levels are rising. In less than 20 years time, beachfront property will be threatened. If you have one, sell it now.
The warmer water bleaches and destroys the corals, the home and breeding grounds of thousands of species of fish and seafood. As much as 80 percent of the world’s fishing grounds are beyond saving, according to some environmentalists. Exploited to the last, all are moving towards total collapse because of the over-fishing. The fish stocks cannot recover.
According to Dr. Matt Frost, of the Plymouth Marine Lab in the UK, “We are putting oceans under more stress than we have done at any point in history,” referring to the fact that pollution and over-fishing also change the oceans.
The syndicated illegal fishing fleets with dragnets are scooping up millions of tons of fish from inside protected exclusive marine boundaries. This kind of fishing is causing the worldwide fish stocks to collapse.
The warmer oceans are melting the arctic glaciers faster, too, and water levels are rising. In less than 20 years time, beachfront property will be threatened. If you have one, sell it now
By 2048, at this rate of depletion, according to The World Counts website, the oceans will not be able to replenish its fish stocks. All could be gone and fish farms will be the only source. Fish farms would be a good investment right now.
If this destruction of the oceans is not stopped with international law enforcement, the 10 billion humans who will be on earth by 2050 will not have any fish to eat. That loss will be catastrophic. At present, the world population is 8,051,355,391 and there is one birth every second. How will they feed themselves? Massive migration will result.
The hungry are now marching north from the southern, impoverished countries exploited by colonialism. Thousands are travelling on foot, by bus, boat and dinghy to reach lands of hope and prosperity. They are mostly rejected.
Global and ocean warming is the most dire threat to all people. It must be addressed and governments must end dependence on fossil fuels and go for renewable energy sources non-stop.
The billions in the proposed Philippine budget for confidential funds could be better spent on renewable sources of energy. These are provided free by nature: wind, sun, geothermal and hydro-power. We just have to harness them.
The world’s political and industrial leaders have to find a conscience and a moral compass and must overcome the greed that is causing the climate crises.
Father Shay Cullen
www.preda.org
