Have you experienced sudden changes in the weather? For
instance at one moment the sky is clear and bright, then suddenly you hear from
the radio that a typhoon is approaching.
Have you also experienced unusual weather conditions? For instance,
you are traveling in a car one sunny day; then you pass by a place where it is
raining hard; then farther on, the road is dry with no trace of rain at all.
The weather may be fair in some days but cold and rainy on
other days. During certain months, typhoons come one after another. At other
times, there are no typhoons for a long period of time. But what does this
weather really mean?
Scientifically, weather is the state of the atmosphere at
any given time, which varies considerably from place to place, day to day, and
season to season. On the other hand, the long term look at the weather in a
place or region is called climate.
At present, we are suffering from this so called climate
change. One such occurrence affecting the climate globally is El Niño, which
affect much the global economy such as decrease in crop yields, prices of
commodities starts to rise and worst is starvation. Second occurrence is La
Niña, an irregular recurring upwelling of unusual cold water to the ocean
surface along western coast of South America.
As Mark Twain once said, “The weather is always doing
something… Always getting up to see how they will go.”
As concerned citizens, we have to be aware of what’s
happening around us. We should also monitor signs of weather and do things
which can lessen the destruction of lives, crops and property. In this way, we
can respond to the climate change.
