The chain reactions of global warming

PUNCHLINE 

By Ike Señeres

Global warming triggers a chain reaction that is not too difficult to understand, and because of that, we should all understand how this chain reaction works, because our lives and the lives of our children would depend on whether we could reverse this chain reaction or not. Many say that common sense is not so common anymore nowadays, but it is time that we should put some sense into our actions against global warming, because it is already a life and death proposition.

Simply put, global warming destroys the corals that serve as the habitat of the planktons that serve as the food of the fish and the other marine life in our oceans. When corals are gone, planktons are also gone and with that, the fish are also gone. There are reports however that even if the planktons are not yet gone, meaning that even if the fish would still have something to eat, they are already migrating up north, because they could no longer survive the heat in the water that is caused by global warming.

By the way, even if the corals are gone, the planktons would not be gone if only the mangroves are not gone too. Of course there is hope that we could still bring back the corals and the mangroves, but that is not enough, because we still have a lot to do in order to slow down or turn back global warming. What is important is for us to understand that our oceans are our sources of protein, and without protein, mankind will die. It is as simple as that.

Most people probably do not know that about half of the world’s oxygen is produced by phytoplankton, the one celled plants that live at the ocean’s surface. Aside from performing the critical function of absorbing the carbon dioxide that is found in the oceans, these plants also serve as food for the herbivore marine creatures that are in turn eaten by the carnivore creatures, as this process goes up in the food chain.

It could be said that these little plants in the ocean are doing what the trees are doing on land, because the trees are also absorbing the carbon dioxide at the same time that they are also producing oxygen. It could also be said that these planktons in the ocean together with the trees on land are the ones that are keeping a balance between the supply of carbon dioxide and oxygen, a balance that could mean life or death for mankind, depending on whether the balance will be tilted or not. That said that however, there is more to keeping this balance than just planktons and trees.

According to the prevailing wisdom, global warming is caused by the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide included. While that may be true, there is another cause of global warming, and that is the excessive removal of petroleum from the ground, including those removed from the deposits below the oceans. It may not be a well known fact, but petroleum deposits are actually the natural coolants under the earth, and with these natural coolants gone, everything under the earth gets heated up, thus also causing heat from the earth to go up into the atmosphere.

Once the petroleum deposits are removed from below the earth, they cause more damage above the earth, because they produce carbon dioxide when they are used as fuels and lubricants. It goes without saying therefore that one sure way to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is to replace petroleum based fuels and lubricants with renewable materials that should not have petroleum based ingredients. Since many of these renewable materials are plant based, they would even produce oxygen as they are grown.

Speaking of chain reactions, I am advocating the planting of trees within and around the watershed areas. If we plant trees in these areas, the chain reaction will start with the improvement of the water holding capability in the soil, thus it will prevent floods on one hand, and increase the supply of water in the watersheds on the other hand. Aside from that, it will also increase the supply of food products that could be harvested from the trees.

Veritas Social Empowerment, Inc. (VSEI) a non-government organization (NGO) has created a supply chain that is sure to create a chain reaction that would work against global warming. Together with Mga Anak ng Inang Daigdig (MAID), another NGO, Veritas has been granted a stewardship agreement by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that allows them to plant trees in135 hectares of land within the Marikina watershed. The area is adjacent to an ancestral domain of a Dumagat tribe that has been granted a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) by the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

Members of MAID who are mostly from the former Smoky Mountain dumpsite in Tondo have already planted organically and naturally grown fruits and vegetables in the area, aside from trees. Both VSEI and MAID were founded by Fr. Ben Beltran, SVD, the longest serving missionary priest in Smoky Mountain who is also a member of the Philippine Alliance of Ex-Seminarians and Ex-Priests (PAXX).

Organic fruits and vegetables from the Marikina watershed, including those that are planted by the Dumagat tribe are now being marketed in the Sacred Heart Parish in Kamuning, Quezon City. I am hoping that this experiment will succeed, because it will create a market for the crops that will in turn sustain the livelihood of those who are trying to preserve the ecosystem in the watershed. VSEI now needs donations to build a firewall that will protect the trees that they have planted.

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