Disastrous Floods Are Everywhere Thanks to Loss of Mangroves?

Avatar for LucyStephanie
3 years ago

All over the world people are deliberately or unknowingly destroying mangroves and the coastal ecosystem. No wonder we are experiencing various worldwide problems in recent years. Why do we always learn our lessons too late?

It is because we are lazy to learn how to take care of our environment until we are directly affected by it. If not lazy then too busy to even bother doing a quick online research. Thus we continue to suffer and some even jeer at environmentalists and scientists. Ignorance is definitely bliss to many people.

In my previous article I shared 5 reasons why destruction of mangroves is irksome and dangerous to everyone. If you haven't read it yet you can do so here. It's the second part of my series on the "secret" global problem" we are facing. Now I will tell you more about why heavy floods have been happening worldwide. But first, a trivia!

Did you know in 2010 it was reported that many shrimp and fish farms have contributed to the decline of mangroves? Guess who is the culprit? We the people on Earth! We just loooove to eat and earn money but many of us don't even love taking care of our planet! 🥴🤦‍♀️

Catastrophic Effects of Solid Waste, Pollution, Mangrove Reduction, and Climate Change

In India, a decrease of 40% of wetlands including mangroves have been noted from the early 1990's to 2005. Various residential and commercial development projects/settlements plus sewage and garbage dumps along their creeks and rivers were done during that period. The end result? The devastating Mumbai floods of 2005. Aside from that, it caused a shortage of clean drinking water.

"Mission Mangrove volunteers believe they will feel the full effects of mangrove forest loss as climate change worsens." Photo by Naomi Larsson via DW.com.

Not only does pollution kill people, it also kills plants and animals! Someone dies every 10 seconds because of dirty water so I'm sure the number is higher for other creatures. It is one cause of death around the world so we have to prevent and reduce water pollution now.

Even mangroves are sensitive to pollution and the change in ocean salinity. We shouldn't wonder why these plants are dying at a faster rate! Mumbai's 2005 flood was caused by pollution and complete disregard to mangrove forests, do we want that to happen in Bulacan province, Philippines?

Then again, there is a bigger problem here, much more than the mangrove/land reclamation issues in our country. It's all connected and we are all to blame for our problems. Simply put:

Human activity + pollution + solid waste = loss of mangroves = rising temperatures = climate change = loss of biodiversity + more diseases + more deaths.

And yes, those important plants have already been noted as dying in Bulakan, Bulacan due to constant flooding and water pollution in the past decade. Why put an airport in a place that causes mangrove depletion and has a big possibility to sink? Do we have to see before we believe when it is already happening in other countries? (e.g. Kansai International Airport, Japan)

This 2015 photograph was taken from the International Space Station shows (the sinking) Kansai International Airport’s artificial islands and bridge in Japan’s Osaka Bay. (NASA (Iss045)) via Air & Space Mag.

Early this year Rappler reported how HazardHunterPH shows Barangay (Brgy.) Taliptip, Bulacan being in danger from tsunami, storm surges and adverse effects of earthquakes.

In the same report,

Narod Eco, a geoscientist and researcher at the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines (UP), warned in a ​forum in June 2020 that Manila Bay reclamations such as the planned construction of San Miguel Corporation's (SMC's) New Manila International Airport (NMIA) will only aggravate these multi-hazard conditions, inevitably putting people in harm's way.

As proof I found some articles that past and recent typhoons have continuously been damaging said area for years. Apparently residents in Brgy. Taliptip have been experiencing floods since 2011. Some communities have partly sunk too. Still there are residents who choose to live in partially submerged areas like Sitio Pariahan, Brgy. Taliptip.

There used to be dikes near their fishponds but those got damaged/destroyed by typhoon Mina (international name: Nanmadol) back then. In addition, there is still an ongoing overextraction of ground water in the area thus Bulacan has been slowly sinking for years. All of that causes the knee- to waist-deep floods everytime a typhoon arrives and the tide rises. Add the continuous cutting of mangroves since 2018 plus those dying from water pollution and guess what?

The partially sunken village of Pariahan in Brgy. Taliptip, Bulakan, Bulacan. Photo by Martin San Diego via VICE.

Maybe in a few decades the place they plan to put an airport on will already be underwater. However a February 2019 news report says the abandoned fishponds will be filled in to avoid that from happening, especially once the project is complete. Residents fear it will cause higher floods. Tried to check if it could happen but I'm not an engineer so my research ends there.

All I know is, the marginalized people will always be the first to suffer if we keep abusing our natural resources. It is unthinkable how some people even hire murderers and bribe the police/government officials just to dispose of any opposition to certain projects! Lord have mercy on us all.

But wait, we are not alone in this environmental concern. Canada and Taiwan are also fighting against building an aerotropolis in their area. Ugh why don't they all just build a floating airport like others are building literal houseboats?

Website screenshot of German town Before and After flood images, July 16,2021 via BBC News.

Recently in Germany and Belgium (Western Europe), people got surprised upon experiencing extreme floods. They blame it on climate change, lack of warning and clogged sewers but we all know who is at fault here. Apparently China also experienced harsh weather and floods in recent weeks.

Meanwhile here in Southeast Asia we regularly experience storms most of the year. Looks like extreme flooding is slowly becoming the norm. Do we really want that? Are we prepared to spend millions or billions in dollar equivalent annually just to recuperate from the damages or will we take action to change our ways now?

May we be reminded of what we all need to do by the recent events that's been happening. In the past week, typhoon Fabian (international name: In-fa) landfalled in the Philippines bringing continuous rain. The prolonged rain caused heavy flooding in various areas so evacuation of around 15,000 people was done.

About P38.6M worth of damages have already been noted by our government agencies since yesterday. That's just in Bulacan alone!

"BULACAN FLOOD MONITORING–Governor Daniel R. Fernando and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office Head Felicisima Mungcal monitor roads, bridges, and rivers within the province through the high-end equipment at the Communication, Command, and Control Center in the PDRRMO, City of Malolos, Bulacan Sunday afternoon, July 25, 2021. (Photo courtesy of PPAO)" via Manila Bulletin.

The funny thing is, I discovered something residents of Brgy. Taliptip have been doing due to the recent flooding. People are actually fishing in the flood waters of said area! Whoa! 😅 Not sure if they do it everytime but still it's something worth mentioning.

Ah if only the wealthy and powerful can be open to learning how to build projects sustainably without having to destroy our natural resources. Maybe then people will not need to protest and fight such environmental atrocities. Maybe then less of humanity will suffer from escalating natural disasters. Let's stop the band-aid solutions and get to the bottom of it please.

Thoughts on How to Lessen Solid Waste and Water Pollution

There are many kinds of waste and pollution happening in the world. Some of them are food waste and plastic pollution. What can each of us do you might wonder? Let me give you the short version. (This is me trying not to make this article too long again. Still I had to split this one into two. Hahaha.)

Image from Pixabay
  1. We should use technology the right way especially in protecting our natural resources.

  2. We can offer support and/or volunteer to any of the environmental organizations or get involved in cleanup drives.

  3. We must educate our children and the youth to be environmentally conscious and socially responsible.

  4. We can reach out to our congress representatives to take further action in protecting mangroves plus developing a more sustainable land/sea farming system, etc.

  5. We should spread awareness to others and be vocal about it to our friends and loved ones aside from our social media accounts.

And there you have it folks! The above are actually common knowledge but we all know what we do with such right? This is why the above still needs to be mentioned and shared from time to time.

What do you think? Care to share your thoughts on this?

I have one more article in this mangrove series. I will be sharing more about the brouhaha over the Bulacan airport next. Stay tuned! 😁

XOXO,

@LucyStephanie

* * *

Lead image from Pixabay.

Previous articles:

Not a member of read.cash yet? Come join us!

11
$ 3.27
$ 3.02 from @TheRandomRewarder
$ 0.10 from @JLoberiza
$ 0.10 from @ARTicLEE
+ 1
Sponsors of LucyStephanie
empty
empty
empty
Avatar for LucyStephanie
3 years ago
Enjoyed this article?  Earn Bitcoin Cash by sharing it! Explain
...and you will also help the author collect more tips.

Comments

where was I when you posted this? In some places, it's worse. Real Estate developers are filling up bodies of water and farmlands and converting them to residential subdivisions. Under the pretext of "DEVELOPMENT and PROGRESS".

$ 0.00
2 years ago

Lol I dunno but it's been around for months. Hehe. That's why we have to always comment on social media posts of those companies that keep doing abuses to the environment. We have to change now or else. :)

This is also why Ka Leody is my president. 😊

$ 0.00
2 years ago

Oh Great !A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. I love to see magrove and it protect the island as well

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Yes definitely needs to be protected.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

The first time I saw a lot of mangroves was in Palawan when we visited an island that I forgot the name but one side of that is full of mangroves and looking back the mangroves does protect the island. That is just in a small scale. Imagine what benefit it will do to the whole country if we start planting mangroves along our coasts. One documentary I saw about flooding in Thailand showed how mangroves helped in slowing down the flooding of a town, saving it from disappearing entirely.

$ 0.01
3 years ago

Yes indeed. Actually we have mangroves all over our country but the numbers are fast declining. It is a slow growing plant so even if we replant this year or last year or two years ago it will still take 10 years before we can benefit from it. Sad 'no?

Hmmm maybe I will look for mangrove documentaries next. haha.

$ 0.01
3 years ago

Ou di naman basta tumutubo ang trees. Kaya nga naiinis din ako minsan sa mga pa tree planting na yan. Natanim na ung mga seedlings tapos? Wala naman follow up. Sa lahat ng tinanim iilan lang naman ang nabuhay.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Tapos after 10 years puputulin na naman ng mga illegal loggers. Pasarap sila eh. Kakaloka. Hayyyy.

$ 0.01
3 years ago

Ah yun pa. Kainis.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

You have destruction of mangroves, in Europe it is woods and forests, but the results are the same, we are destroying our planet and killing ourselves.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Exactly... It's so sad... Huhu...

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Poor mangroves, if only people could truely see their woth😢

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Super. Tapos ang daming ginagastos sa dolomite imbes na gamitin para i-preserve mga existing mangroves. Haaay.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

korek..sayang budget nila dun sa dolomite sa mga watersheds, mangrove preservation n lng sna

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Which watershed? Very important din ang watershed like doon sa sinulat ko na La Mesa Ecopark. Haha, dolomite sa Manila Bay ang walang halaga. 😁

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Lahat dpat ng watersheds kc source of clean water natin mga yan..

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Yown. Korek ka jan.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Sori kanina sa quick reply kc aq nagtype kaya nagkagulo yun thought 😂🤣 kaya inedit q 😂

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Ok lng... kaya napatanong ako kasi bka may mali nga haha

$ 0.00
3 years ago