When United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in June that “the era of global warming has ended” and that “the era of global boiling has arrived,” he may have been exaggerating to illustrate the gravity of climate change-related problems.

Guterres made the statement amid record-high temperatures being felt in many countries, including the Philippines, which has been forced to suspend classes to ease the risks associated with the sweltering heat, including life-threatening strokes.

On Tuesday, Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) clarified that the world remains in the era of global warming, something he described as a continuing phenomenon.

“The term global boiling was used by the UN secretary-general to highlight the fact that we are experiencing global warming and for all countries to act, especially those who burn carbon,” said Solidum in Filipino, “that we must do something to limit greenhouse gases.”

“For scientists, this is a new phase. We do not use this term. We are still experiencing global warming because it is continuous, meaning the world continues to warm up. But the UN secretary-general just wanted to highlight the urgency of what is happening right now,” he said.

Solidum warned that global warming would continue until mankind starts reducing greenhouse gas emissions in earnest.

He explained that countries must work together to keep from reaching the threshold, the first being the 1.5-degrees Centigrade adobe “industrial-level temperature.”

Getting hotter

“If it gets hotter (by 2 to 2.5 degrees), we don’t know what will happen and there will be many consequences,” he said.

For perspective, he explained that the world came off the glacial age and it got warmer since then due to the natural rotation of the earth around the sun.

Global warming, he said, is being accelerated by the burning of fossil fuels, resulting in never-before-seen heat indexes or the perceived effects of rising temperatures on people.

Solidum said that one of the advocacies of the DoST is to prepare for the consequences of climactic changes, including, as pointed out by other scientists, stronger typhoons and extended dry spells.

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the El Niño dry spell is expected to persist in May.

PAGASA weather specialist John Manalo cited data showing various locations in the country had logged dangerous heat numbers, from 42 degrees Celsius to 51 degrees Celsius.

From 10 to 15 locations suffering from sweltering heat, around 36 stations have logged numbers in the “danger category,” he said. “The magnitude of that heat index will also increase as we approach the first and second weeks of May.”

The highest heat index of 53C was recorded in Iba, Zambales, on Saturday, classified as a heat index that’s “extremely dangerous.” On that same day, Metro Manila had its hottest in history — 38.8C recorded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, surpassing the previous record of 38.6C registered on 17 May 1915, in Port Area, Manila.

Six deaths

The Department of Health (DoH) reported last week that 34 heat-related illnesses were registered from 1 January to 18 April this year, with the majority recorded in Central Visayas, the Ilocos Region and Soccsksargen.

Of the total, six resulted in deaths. The DoH noted the causes of their deaths were still being verified. The highest number of heat-related illnesses was recorded in 2023, with 513 cases.

The DoH advised the public to take preventive measures such as limiting the time spent outdoors, drinking plenty of water, and wearing protective and comfortable clothing outdoors to avoid heat-related illnesses whose symptoms include sweating heavily, exhaustion, dizziness, blacking out, vomiting, nausea, and weakness despite a fast pulse.