Climate Change Impacts

          It is actually quite interesting that the IPCC reports the southeast Asia has a "median change of about 7% in all seasons"; however, "the projected seasonal changes vary strongly within the region." (IPCC) This means that the IPCC is not going to be very accurate necessarily throughout the report for this part of southeast Asia. It is stating that there would be a consistent and a big increase in area precipitation near the ITCZ, over northern Indonesia. It's important that "the pattern is broadly one of wet seasons rainfall increase and dry season decrease." (IPCC) Personally, I think this would actually benefit the Philippines because it would increase precipitation to water crops and keep their wet crops alive for a longer time. Additionally, if they do not get as much intense hurricanes and severe weather, their agriculture business of the country would be making profit.

          With common sense, the glaciers melting from the Himalayas would most definitely increase flooding. Also, this would input way more freshwater sources into the ocean because of the melting of the glaciers. The IPCC reports that there would also be a decrease in freshwater sources because of the climate changing. This would greatly impact the increasing population, which in turn would require more fresh, clean water source. Would Philippines be affected? The IPCC also reports that "Coastal areas... will be at greatest risk due to increased flooding from the sea." (IPCC) Also, it is projected that crop yields in southeast Asia, where Philipines is at, could increase all the way up to 20%.

         
          IPCC reports that "The crop yield in many countries of Asia has declined, partly due to rising temperatures and extreme weather events." (IPCC) This change of climate is projected to decrease 5 to 30% in crop yields by 2050s. With this, "Freshwater availability is likely to decrease due to climate change... which could adversely affect more than a billion people by 2050s." Along with the sea level rising and temperature rising as well with Global Warming, the ocean's ecosystems is at very high risk of danger. Coral reefs risk high threats from this situation. On the other hand, coastal countries like Philippines could face potential sea level rise. The IPCC report has high confidence in this happening. This would majorly affect your crops and agriculture in land by introducing ocean water into freshwater lands. The IPCC reports "increases in coastal water temperature would exacerbate the abundance and/or toxicity of cholera in south Asia. (high confidence)." This would likely expand water borne diseases into inland.

        The most fascinating threat to Philippines in my opinion is the endangerment of the ocean's ecosystems and the sea level rising around Philippines. The ocean water temperature warming could cause major issues for certain species to be inhabitable in certain specific temperature. As seen in the picture below, you can spot that Philippines holds an area of danger for species to be endangered species. This is caused by water level rising and temperature rising over time. Another thing is the precipitation rising on top of sea level rising. Since the Philippines is already so close to the sea level, the country is very susceptible to sea level rising turning into flooding. This would make typhoons and/or other extreme events to be extra violent, causing even more flooding and damage to the country. Also, the saltwater from ocean intruding into crop lands and agriculture farms could cause harm into the agriculture business, which Philippines is greatly dependent on. These are the two threats I found most interesting about.