DOST chief: We are still in global warming

Science and Technology chief Dr. Renato Solidum Jr. said that contrary to what the United Nations (UN) said about entering the era of global boiling at present, we are still in global warming, as this is a continuum phenomenon.

"The term global boiling was used by the UN secretary-general to highlight the fact that we are experiencing global warming and to have action and a message to all countries, especially to those who burn carbon, that they must do something to limit greenhouse gases," Solidum explained in a radio interview on Tuesday.

"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. But the UN secretary-general just wants to highlight the urgency of what is happening right now," he added.

According to Solidum, it is high time that the public takes action to prepare for continued warming and reduce it, especially through greenhouse gas emission mitigation.

"Others are taking really dramatic measures to highlight the urgency of the problem, and this is what is really being avoided — that we reach what we call the threshold," he said.

"The first is 1.5 degrees centigrade above what we call industrial-level temperature, and what we are looking at now is 2 degrees to 2.5 degrees because if it gets hotter, we don't know what will happen and there will be many consequences."

"I just want to also give a scientific perspective that in the past, we started in the last glacial age, and since then, the world has been warming due to the natural rotation of the earth around the sun, but because of the burning of fossil fuels, global warming has accelerated, and that is what we are facing now," Solidum added.

Hence, the DOST chief said that the Philippines needs to contribute to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions not just for climate change, but also to avoid possible health consequences brought by pollution.

Moreover, Solidum said that one of the advocacies of the DOST is to prepare for the consequences of the changing temperature and rain distribution.

In June 2023, UN secretary-general António Guterres said that "the era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived," following the World Meteorological Organization and the European Commission's Copernicus Climate Change Service report of July 2023 as 'the hottest month ever recorded in human history.'

Red-hot Philippines

The El Niño onslaught persists in the country as an increased 'init factor' is expected in May, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

On Monday, PAGASA weather specialist John Manalo said that based on their data, locations in the country that had a dangerous heat index, which is from 42 degrees Celsius to 51 degrees Celsius, were only around ten to 15 locations in early April.

"But now, around 36 stations or areas are in the danger category, and we expect that to increase," he said, noting that "the magnitude of that heat index will also increase as we approach the first and second weeks of the month of May."

The highest heat index of 53°C was recorded in Iba, Zambales, on Saturday, which is classified as an extremely dangerous heat index.

On the same day, Metro Manila had its hottest temperature in history — 38.8°C, which was recorded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City.

This surpassed the previous record of 38.6°C registered on 17 May 1915, in Port Area, Manila.