Getting grimmer

I ALWAYS look forward to the “Ber months.” It usually signals the start of the cool, mild sunny days. Whew, October came and went.

Now it’s already November and Bacolod is experiencing heat. Crazy! Weather is getting so erratic and unpredictable.

And now we get the news. It’s not just Bacolod, not even the Philippines. It’s W O R L D W I D E!

The Washington Post warned last week that the world’s oceans warned that the Earth could be set to warm even faster than predicted in the years ahead.

Over the past quarter-century, reported by the American broadsheet, Earth’s oceans have retained 60 percent more heat each year than scientists previously had thought, published in the journal Nature.

The difference represents an enormous amount of additional energy, originating from the sun and trapped by Earth’s atmosphere—the yearly amount representing more than eight times the world’s annual energy consumption.

The higher-than-expected amount of heat in the oceans means more heat is being retained within Earth’s climate system each year, rather than escaping into space. In essence, more heat in the oceans signals that global warming is more advanced than scientists thought.

“But we were wrong. The planet warmed more than we thought. It was hidden from us just because we didn’t sample it right. But it was there. It was in the ocean already.”

The world already has warmed 1C° since the late 19th century. Scientists backed by the United Nations reported this month that with warming projected to steadily increase, the world faces a daunting challenge in trying to limit that warming to only another half-degree Celsius. The group found that it would take “unprecedented” action by leaders across the globe over the coming decade to even have a shot at that goal.

The problem is that in this grave peril, the top three greenhouse gas emitters—china, the European Union and the United States are not getting their acts together. Yet the three contribute more than half of the total global emissions, while the bottom 100 countries only account for 3.5 percent, says the Worl Resource Institute.

Collectively, the top 10 emitters account for nearly three-quarters of global emissions. The world can’t successfully tackle the climate change challenge without significant action from these countries.

Unless these three leading polluters forget their national interests and start thinking of global interests, the planet is doomed. Frankly, I doubt that’s going to happen.

The good news—if it can be called that— is that I would have crossed the Great Divide. My concern is those I will leave behind.*

(bqsanc@yahoomail.com) Duterte named Isidro Lapeña who was the former head of the Davao City police when Duterte was mayor, the police director for operations before he retired in 2017, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief. In late October, Duterte announced he was assigning Lapeña to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority after a multibillion-peso drug smuggling controversy at the Customs.

After Lapeña came Rey Leonardo Guerrero, a retired Philippine Army general, former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and former Maritime Industry Authority administrator. Guerrero became the third BOC head under the Duterte administration. All three have police or military background.

Past presidents have also appointed generals to head the BOC in the hope that military might or strength would counter massive corruption. Even President Benigno Aquino III appointed a retired military official to the BOC. But it is under Duterte that for the first time military personnel would take over Customs operations.

Duterte said last week all Customs officials “will be replaced, all of them, by military men. will be a takeover of the Armed Forces in the matter of operating in the meantime while we are sorting out how to effectively meet the challenges of corruption in this country.”

His decision was met by accusations of martial law in the BOC and fears among traders on the effects of such change on their schedule of exports and imports.

It

Corruption at the BOC has been around for so long and its tentacles have reached beyond the Customs offices and into the fields of business and even media. Having men with long firearms running a civilian office is one approach that is too much but, ironically, not enough to address a complicated mess./sunstar Cebu