2M need relocation if Manila Bay overflows
First posted 00:53am (Mla time) Feb 10, 2006
By Daxim L. Lucas
Inquirer
Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the Feb. 10, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
WARNING that the world will reach the "tipping point" toward an ecological catastrophe within the next 10 years, former US Vice President Al Gore urged international and local leaders to focus their efforts toward halting the phenomenon of global warming.
Gore flew to Manila yesterday to address a group of several hundred political and business leaders as well as members of the diplomatic corps at the RCBC Plaza on Ayala Avenue in Makati City on the dangers of neglecting the environment.
"We should be worried about threats like terrorism, but we should also be worried about other more important threats like the destruction of the environment," he told the group which included former President Fidel V. Ramos and several senators and congressmen.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrived and exchanged pleasantries with Gore but left before his presentation.
Gore served as vice president under former US President Bill Clinton from 1992 to 2000, using his post to
advocate major scientific initiatives and environmental issues.
The standing-room only audience at the Carlos P. Romulo auditorium listened in rapt attention as Gore gave a science lecture on global warming complete with graphs, slides, video clips and satellite photos obtained from the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) showing the extent of the environmental damage around the world.
In particular, Gore illustrated how the increase in carbon dioxide levels around the world was leading to higher temperatures worldwide, causing glaciers and the polar ice cap to melt.
He showed computer simulations of how major coastal cities around the world would be flooded by an average 5-meter rise in the sea level caused by melting polar ice.
"Two million people in Manila will have to be relocated," he said, as the simulation showed the northern and other low-lying areas of the metropolis being flooded as Manila Bay rushed inland.
Gore's insights on issues such as global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer and the destruction of rainforests is said to have played a major role in policy-making for the Clinton government. In recent years, he strongly pushed for the passage of the Kyoto Treaty, an agreement among the world's major superpowers to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
During Gore's tenure as vice president, he was already a strong proponent for environmental protection. While a senator, he traveled around the world on numerous fact-finding missions to work on his book, "Earth in Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit," which explains the necessity for environmentalism and calls for a global marshal plan to rescue the planet from environmental disasters.
Gore also pointed out the threat to the environment brought about by population explosion, especially in the developing world which includes countries like the Philippines.
"We have to accept the moral reality," he said. "I know population is an issue here and I don't want to meddle but the biggest increases are happening in poor countries."
The population explosion is also causing the exploitation of valuable rainforests which, in turn, aggravates environmental degradation.
"I said I wouldn't meddle, but you're losing 2 percent of your forests each year," he said. "They're more valuable to you for ecological purposes than for wood."
And mining, too
"But that's for you to decide," he said. Gore also noted that the mining of minerals could also destroy the environment.
"I hate to meddle, but the costs have to be calculated," he said, stressing that political will is the key toward implementing reforms on the environmental front.
"Fortunately, in democracies, political will is a renewable resource," he said, drawing laughter from the audience.
Standing ovation
Gore's impassioned presentation was received with deafening applause and a standing ovation from the audience.
"I wish all our politicians were like him," former Education Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad said when interviewed after the presentation. "Then this would be a much, much better country."
Former Prime Minister Cesar E.A. Virata said the government and the country already recognized the problems highlighted in Gore's presentation, but pointed out that much remained to be done.
Slap in the face
"We have so many laws already in place like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act," he said. "It's always a question of implementation."
Senator Richard Gordon, for his part, called Gore's presentation a "good slap in the face."
"It's a very rude wake-up call for us," he said. "We have to move fast, especially on the population issue."
Gore and his party arrived shortly before 2 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport aboard a Japan Airlines flight and were met by the Presidential Security Group, which had earlier requested airport authorities for special assistance for the visitor.
Gore will fly to India today to repeat his gospel on the environment.
"The earth is our only home," he said "It's now at risk. Let's save it."
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