JUST LIKE OTHER MAJOR ASIAN CITIES:
Manila, coastal villages under threat from sea-level rise
By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:48:00 09/23/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Coastal communities in the Philippines are under threat from sea level rise, while a mega, but low-lying city like Manila is vulnerable to more disasters, according to a World Vision report.
In its report "Planet Prepare'' presented to the press on Tuesday, World Vision -- a Christian development, relief and advocacy organization -- echoed the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change's statement that a one-centimeter rise in sea level could erode a beach by one-meter horizontally.
"This puts extreme pressure on developed beaches and densely populated coastal areas across the world, including sealocked nations in Asia like the Philippines,'' it said.
As an archipelago with a complex coastline roughly equivalent to the earth's circumference, the country is "extremely vulnerable'' to climate change sea-level rises, the international organization said.
Quoting from a Greenpeace report, World Vision said that that a one-meter rise in sea level could affect 64 out of the country's 81 provinces and inundate 700 million square meters of land area.
The 123-page report collates latest scientific thinking, expert views and World Vision's experience, and proposes measures to help prepare communities such as inundation, and saltwater intrusion.
Quoting the Indian climate expert, Dr. Sudhir Chella Rajan, the report said that sea level rise could be preceded by a series of coastal surges such as inundation and saltwater intrusion.
"Such climate change catastrophes could create waves of environment-driven migration within and across international borders and -- in the absence of political forethought – become a formula for protracted, bloody conflicts and human misery,'' it said.
According to the report, approximately half of the world population could be living within 100 kilometers of the coast by 2030 because of rapid urbanization.
"Megacities in the `low elevation coastal zone' such as Dhaka, Jakarta, Manila, Mumbai, Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta), Beijing, Shanghai, etc., are on the frontlines of future climate changes that will render more people more vulnerable to disasters,'' it said.
Dominique Monera-Tabora, communications manager of the World Vision Philippines, said in a PowerPoint presentation that Asia's urban population was set to grow from 1.36 billion in 2000 to 2.64 billion by 2030.
Much of this growth, she said, would happen in coastal and urban settlements.
"Dhaka, Mumbai, Manila, Shanghai, Jakarta, all lying within the `low elevation coastal zone, are at risk. Significant sea-level rise could ultimately de-urbanize major population centers in the region,'' she said.
World Vision further quoted a recent World Bank, report which showed that Manila sank by .40 meters in the 20th century.
World Vision proposed that the country invest in disaster preparedness rather than "channeling the vast bulk of aid funding to disaster responses,'' saying this could reap more return on investment.
"One study shows that for every dollar invested in pre-disaster risk reduction activities seven dollars in losses can be prevented,'' Tabora said.
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