Experiences, Ideas & Observation on Environmental Advocacy

Figure 01, Biodiversity Conservation of Majestic Asik-Asik Falls, North Cotabato, Philippines

“The beauty of the environment reflects on individual characters they inherited from their childhood until they become real adults. Because of the talent we have, we definitely observe the behavioral differences between environments and from the situation wherever we stand for. Individual experiences can’t be denied as they open their eyes and as they walk by through whatever observation gathered. Through whatever experiences and observations we learned in our environment, which stimulates our ideas on either negatively or positively adjunct to individual attitudes for their future admiration and as successor.”

Insight

With the observation, ideas, and experiences we have had to collate aligning to our philosophical term “environmental advocacy” which immense depending on individual careers, vocations, and activities especially for love to the environment on the way whereas an individual can express somehow. However, the picture (Figure 01) that the author presenting in this paper is about the article's image headline as what the author’s still dreaming that whenever he can get back home, the author can see the same as he left his beloved country. Which nice to look at and filling up with peace of mind and the serenity of the place that can bring you with a bright and beautiful mind where the Philippines is one of the richest in natural resources that can’t be imagined, but let us focus on the environment whereas the author is working on it.

The article paper's intent is to expound some changes in the places where we live based on the subject of environmental advocacy and as one of the alumni and graduate students of the University of the Philippines to explore with gathered experiences, observation and ideas with the author’s advocacy.

Climate Change, a Lesson needs to Understand as an Advocate

However, as you can notice, year after year, our environment has changed dramatically due to the climate change phenomenon whereas it becomes global problems and issues. I can’t deny but it is true, and I do believe that is the reality that is now happening in our environment with Climate Change around the globe. It changes and keeps changing the entire ecosystem-based on the facts of researchers and developments conducted by the scientists of the scholars from Westerners being funded and disperse for us to be informed and aware of it. And these have been validated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) where hundreds of independent and governmental scientific organizations which have been released of the same statements worldwide and repeatedly concluded with the same sentiments whereas almost around 97% of scientists agreed due to their findings because of the followings; 1) Unequivocally warning, and 2) Human activity as the primary cause.

The greenhouse effect causes Climate Change, the author may say, on the other hand, the Middle East in the present generation is one of the contributors of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accordingly, where CO₂ trapped more heat which will make the whole planet warmer and warmer that lead to changing the environment than the usual norm. These are one of those activities acted upon by the human on earth with a simple formula of the underlying physics on how our Earth system works a warmer. With climate change, adding extra CO₂ and other greenhouses gas emissions from the building-built environment in the atmosphere are due to the environmental possibilism, which contributes around the globe of massive infrastructure development around the world. As well as that the most concrete visible we have now in our generation and most common examples of the causes and impacts in contributing to climate change, which has been developed are due to economic demand and values of the countries around the world relevance to the human activities as such; 1) Industrial Revolution, 2) Agricultural Advancement, and 3) Technological revolution.

Wherein Rambo implied that in the system model of human ecology whereas both the social system and the ecosystem are interacting with each other, however, integrity as a system will retain the same but changing the structural configuration according to their internal dynamics. In other words and with the given explanations by Rambo on Socio-Cultural Principles of Human-Environment Interactions (Malayang; 1999), simplifies the social system-ecosystem interactions relationships that involve the system model of human ecology which emphasizes in 4-relational aspects and as follows; 1) Ecosystem inputs into the social system, 2) Social system inputs into the ecosystem, 3) Institutional change with the social network in response to the ecosystem inputs, and 4) Changes in the ecosystem in response to the social system inputs.

With all the above observations conducted as an environmental advocate, experiences, ideas and the given lesson materials from the environmental subject courses, the author may say, are very interesting to know things about how the systems model whereas human ecology implies climate change. And the author has nothing to say but the social system to the ecosystem and from ecosystem to social network of relevances and implications towards society, where Climate Change needs to understand at all.

Comprehension of Environmental Change and Observation

Based on the facts with the given lesson materials and researches, the author realized and to be honest, understanding Climate Change as an Environmental Advocate must understand first deeply how the greenhouses gas effect in the ecosystem. Through with the means or whenever driving the car Electricity, mega-product in the factory as we used energy from oil and gas exploration due to their burning of fossils that produce CO₂ in the atmosphere that implies as such: 1) Temperature is getting warmer, 2) Giant Ice sheets are melting, 3) Oceans are rising, 4) Flowers are blooming earlier, 5) Snow is melting earlier, and 6) Birds are not flying anymore.

Figure 02, the Effect of Denudation with the Climate Change (Source; Wikipedia)

Thereby, if the planet is getting warmer, the implication towards it will have a powerful storm, just like what they have experiencing nowadays in the Philippines. Another thing because of denudation (Figure 02) causing flooding in the lowland area, droughts especially in the Middle East and heatwaves as always experiencing, to be honest, Qatar is not the same as in the Philippines, which is prone to all calamities throughout the year. However, as they are experiencing 50 to 55 degrees Celsius ambient temperature during summer and suffering on heatwaves, but, that is a sign of climate change, yes it is, which the author may say, an extreme temperature at all. The environment around the country is too hot, and from then, the water from the fixture/faucet when you open it is terribly super hot, and you cannot touch it for you to wash your hand. Unfortunately, as speaking to colleagues that this temperature that they have experienced is like the temperature being set in the microwave, imagine! But everybody is alive and survives, and they are all here only for the money designed for the sake of their families as they left in the Philippines. And with these experiences, this is amazing, and lucky to experience like this.

Moreover, the Climate Change effect on the country is entirely different from what they have experienced in the Philippines based on observation. It is because Qatar is not vulnerable to it; however, the increase in the temperatures throughout summer seems to become a nuisance than the usual way of living. And as a result, Qatar’s vulnerability is having a lack of freshwater whereby everybody knows that they are relying on desalination as their water source in the country, as well as one of their food insecurity.

The image below (Figure 03) is usually done by the miners (Mining Companies) and the kaingineros as a defined example of human activities that contribute to climate change also and most likely happening in the Philippines. However, the most affected are those people living in the lowland areas which usually suffered from erosion, flooding, and food security as they are relying their foods on the field. And with Figure 03, how pity how they did it to the environment, just because of money to fatten their pocket?

Figure 03, the Mining Effect in the Upland Community (Source; New York Times)

Nowadays, the realization of what’s happening in the Philippine UPLANDS, which affected the whole community at large and that is because of the previous government who are in the position practicing graft and corruption instead of Filipinos. Why the author saying this, it is because of the agricultural sector that has been declined for 3-decades after the Marcos Regime and the author didn’t see any development that will sustain the needs of the farmers. The practice of kaingineros has not been controlled and resolved the issues throughout the years, and that’s the effect of DENUDATION as illustrated above as experience in both urban and rural areas. And with those repercussions, the country’s don’t even have shelters in protecting the environment when the heavy rainstorm comes.

The Human-Cultural Ecology changes the entire ecosystem, which indeed people’s faults and this is part of the Environmental Possibilism theory implies Socio-Cultural Principles of Human-Environment Interactions (Malayang; 1999). And as an environmental advocate, this doesn’t help the country and the global of this kind of practice in developing the country’s economic growth but graft and corruption. However, regaining soil fertility won’t be applied unless the practice of kaingineros will be wipe-out in their society so that soil erosion, degradation, and flooding be controlled with the use of engineering technology.

Conclusion

As a conclusion with all the given facts, materials, observation, ideas, and experiences in this regard, and to be honest, the author is not a genius like Einstein to know things and memorize them all words by words, but the author can understand how these being implied and affected the environment. As an environmental advocate with a simple thought in working towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can be done somehow, and as an Engineer by profession in meeting the challenges of climate change can be applied in the respective design projects within the construction industry. However, reading all the materials are very challenging for reading paragraphs by paragraphs that have the same thought to learn, and as an environmentalist, we need to love the environment to save the planet Earth we live in, and hence, a sustainable environment is sustained.

Write-Up References can be Read from this Links;

Gomeseria, RV; (December 2018); “Environmental Advocacy & Conservation Personal Journal & Reflections;” Durreesamin Journal (ISSN: 2204-9827) December Vol 4 Issue 3; the Year 2018

Gomeseria, RV; (January 2019); “Experiences, Ideas, and Observation Environmental Advocacy;” Retrieved from; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330618552_Experiences_Ideas_and_Observation_Environmental_Advocacy