Yolanda commemoration
July 2023 will probably be the world's hottest month in "hundreds, if not thousands, of years," top NASA climatologist Gavin Schmidt says.
This month has already seen daily records shattered according to tools run by the European Union and the University of Maine, which combine ground and satellite data into models to generate preliminary estimates.
Though they differ slightly from one another, the trend of extreme heat is unmistakable and will likely be reflected in the more robust monthly reports issued later by US agencies, said Schmidt in a NASA briefing with reporters. — AFP
Non-profit group Postcards From Disasters is staging a Virtual Reality (VR) tour into Super Typhoon Yolanda’s ground zero six years after its landfall.
The coastal village of 69-Anibong in Tacloban City was among the communities that bore the brunt of Yolanda (Haiyan), considered one of the world’s strongest typhoons to hit land, which killed at least 6,000 when it tore through portions of the country in 2013.
During the super typhoon’s onslaught, storm surges slammed into the community and swept cargo ships inland that wiped out houses. At least fifty residents were killed in that village alone.
The government has declared Barangay 69-Anibong a hazard zone for tsunamis and storm surges even before Yolanda. However, more than half a decade after the super typhoon, the coastal village is still home to thousands of displaced residents who have been waiting for government shelters to be completed.
Housing projects for Yolanda survivors are riddled with corruption.
According to a recent Commission on Audit (COA) report, only half of over 200,000 housing units have been constructed.
Of the completed houses, more than half remains unoccupied. The result: thousands of survivors are forced to live in shanties built from the rubble in Tacloban City.
Displaced residents are suffering due to prolonged displacement, which further exposes them to human rights abuses.
An interactive 360-degree video of the coastal village will be the centerpiece of Postcards From Disasters’ exhibit at Glorietta 4 Left Wing in Makati City from November 8 to 14.
Visitors will use VR headsets provided in the exhibit space. They can also choose to watch the video in 360-degree view via computers displayed in the setup. PFD collaborated with Microsoft Education partner, Amicus Koi Solutions, and Australian tech company, VRTY that provided the technology that captured the community in interactive VR.
Apart from experiencing a walkthrough into the coastal village, visitors will get to listen to residents’ stories told by community leader Chat Bactol.
November 8 marks the sixth year since Supertyphoon Yolanda caused widespread death and destruction in the Eastern Visayas, where Tacloban City was the worst hit.
Youth leaders, along with community leaders from Tacloban City, will gather at the steps of the Melchor Hall in the UP Diliman campus for a candle-lighting activity on on Friday evening to mark the anniversary, Stewards and Volunteers for the Environment Philippines says in a press release.
They will also call on the youth to take a stand for climate justice. This will be in preparation for the second Global Climate Strike on November 29.
"The students, mostly from University of the Philippines Diliman and Ateneo de Manila University will speak out on the lack of political will and business-as-usual attititude of the government despite signing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep rising global temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius," SAVE Philippines says.
The group will also make the following demands:
1. Stop the expansion of coal and fossil fuel energy and make a swift and just transition to clean and renewable energy systems for people and communities.
2. Stop the destruction of the environment and natural capacity of the planet to absorb greenhouse gas emissions; undertake massive ecological restoration.
3. Address poverty, inequalities and marginalization that increase vulnerability and risks of people and communities to climate change impacts;
4. Empower and build resilience and capacity of marginalized communities and families to deal with the consequences of climate change;
5. Respect the human rights of environment and climate justice advocates.
6. Mobilize the finance necessary for the above; governments of rich, industrialized countries, in particular, should deliver on their obligations to provide climate finance.
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