“Climate change” is no hoax, says DENR exec
THE “climate change” phenomenon is for real and we better plan for it.
This was stressed by Ernesto Corpuz, a senior research science specialist at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Pangasinan.
Corpuz noted that despite the many talks about climate change and global warming, there are still people in developing countries who are not aware of the issues.
“Climate is not just changing, it has already changed,” he said, citing the assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an organization created by the United Nations in 1988 to assess the impact of human activities on the climate.
But the crux of the matter is, said Corpuz, is not so much the drastic changes in the weather but the people’s response towards it.
“It is not climate change that is our problem, per se, but the attitude of people in addressing the problem,” he said.
He also pointed out that some industrialized countries, the biggest of whom is the United States, are asserting that “climate change is a hoax” and continue to refuse to sign the Kyoto Protocol in order to protect their own economic interests.
The Kyoto Protocol requires the reduction of emission of greenhouse gases from factories and vehicles.
Corpuz said while the province has not experienced extreme weather conditions this year, he warned the public not to be complacent as the condition could drastically change in the coming years.
“It is time to prepare and adapt,” he said. (PIA-Pangasinan/ARF)
