Global Warming - A Morning Of Indifference

"To do more than is required of you is a good way to bring yourself forward."- Dr.Sidney N. Bremer

I am restless. There are so many things I wanted to do all at once. It's not that I am frustrated in a negative way, if there's such a thing. Only that my hands are tied in a sort of way, right now, and I can't do some of the projects in my to-do list. Oh well, I can always write about anything, can't I?

The weather forecast at 5 p.m. Wednesday said the tropical cyclone Glenda was last spotted 160 kilometers west of Zambales, and was moving towards Bajo de Masinloc. There are still places where signal number 1 alert remains, but all in all, it has died down. They said that the Philippines is visited by more than 20 typhoons in a year, and most of them destructive. Glenda was the first typhoon and the first major storm to hit the Philippines since super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) devastated Leyte and Samar in November of 2013, killing a total of 6, 300 people, as per the official death toll by NDRRMC. 

Yesterday, they said it was signal number 2 here in the mountains. Judging by the mere drizzle yesterday morning, you wouldn't think of it. But I know other places were not so lucky. I have not been watching the news lately, but from my twitter news feeds, it looked bad especially in Metro Manila and the nearby towns. As of this morning, the news said Glenda left at least 20 dead and 5 missing. Tsk! Tsk!

Now that I think of it, here is a topic close to my heart. Mother Earth and Nature's fury. Global warming. Ozone unzipped. Freak storms. Hurricanes. Cyclones. We've watched so many "nature-inspired" disaster movies, and more are coming soon in the ads. Some may say, these are just movies. But if you look closer, it actually represents the true state of our Mother Earth. 

But what is "global warming" really? When you search the net, it says: 

1. "a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants."

Well, you don't need a lot of sophisticated translations to understand that this is bad for the world. Bad for us. Bad for the future generations, if there will be one. There are so many little things we can do to help prevent a catastrophic climate change. Small ways that may look insignificant, but the numbers will prove us wrong. 

I am also guilty as charged. For the more I use tissues, the more I use plastic bags, plastic cups, plastic anything, has a big impact in the environment. What more if we just dump it carelessly. Just throwing a candy wrapper on the street is a big mistake. Yesterday, when I went home from work (I came from graveyard shift, of course), a man who, judging by the basket he carried, came from the market, just threw a styro cup outside the jeepney's window. I was so disappointed and upset. How can someone, after all the disasters happening around us, be so indifferent with his environment? 

I guess people will never learn, or simply do not care about the future of this planet. It's probably easier for them to just shrug it off. I did, before, when I didn't care. I can't remember what changed my belief. I just realized that no matter how small a gesture was, it will greatly impact the world in general. And so, I try to do my share of caring for nature as best I can. 

For my family. For my friends. For my community. For my country. For the world. But mostly, for me. For it makes me happy that even in little ways, I have a say on what's happening in my world.