00:00 A new government report shows sea level in Metro Manila has exceeded and is now almost three times the global average.
00:06 Now, what are the root causes of this acceleration in rising sea levels and how can this affect our environment and our daily lives?
00:13 Joining us now live via Zoom is Dennis Brigas.
00:16 He's the Physical Oceanography Division Chief of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority or NAMRIA.
00:23 Good morning, Dennis, and thank you for joining us.
00:26 Yes, good morning, Sir Paolo.
00:28 Dennis, first let's talk, or let's break down the facts and figures.
00:32 What did you find from your latest report and what is the global sea level annually and what does that data mean for Metro Manila?
00:41 Yes, Sir. Yes, I will just put into perspective, no, the NASA pegged the rate of sea level rise, global sea level rise at 3.4.
00:52 And also from the permanent sea level, mean sea level service, the PSMSL, also same, same, almost the same figure, 3.7 millimeters per year.
01:06 But according to our records, NAMRIA records, we have what we call a sea level data from 1901 to up to now.
01:17 So we have data that's specifically for Metro Manila.
01:22 So if you break down those data into periods, I call it period from 1901 to 1920 to first, we look at the whole bunch of data.
01:35 We are looking at 8.4 millimeters per year. That's around 122 years.
01:42 Right.
01:42 Okay. So if you look at the 1947 to 2022, because we have hard data for 1947, we don't have the 1901 data.
01:56 So you are looking at a 13.2 millimeters per year.
02:01 Okay, Dennis, are we talking about a global sea level rise or are we talking about a local sea level rise?
02:06 Perhaps we can differentiate that and really sort of set the stage because we have water rising globally.
02:13 Ice is melting. The sea is expanding due to an increasing global warming level.
02:22 But I think we need to differentiate between a global sea rise and why we can point towards a localized rise in sea levels here towards the Philippines and Metro Manila in particular.
02:35 Yes, when you talk about global, it's the whole ocean.
02:39 You're speaking of the whole ocean.
02:41 The satellite data is trying to look at the whole ocean as it covers the earth, right?
02:48 So but if you say local, it means specific to a particular area, geographical area, just like Metro Manila, it's local.
02:57 And we have at least 60 observing stations throughout the country.
03:02 So you are looking at at least 30 local mean sea level.
03:06 Okay, so if we try to look at Metro Manila, as I was saying, you can break down the periods of what we have collected.
03:18 So for 1965 to 2002, you are looking now at a 14.4 millimeters per year.
03:27 So for Manila, you are basically you have three values like eight millimeters up to 14 millimeters depending on the period.
03:39 So I also try to compare the global data, which is the 3.4 global data from NASA.
03:48 That's well, they say it's from 1993 to 2022 data.
03:54 So it's 3.4, but same period for Manila.
03:58 It's already around 13.20.
04:01 Okay, based on that, it seems like the water level is rising at roughly three times the rate.
04:08 It seems everywhere else.
04:10 What can we put this down to this accelerated level of rise or the sea rise, the level of rising in the sea here in Metro Manila?
04:19 What can we put this down to?
04:21 There's a lot of talk about the land reclamation being a possible cause for this, the change in the population and the way that basically we're living our lives.
04:31 How does our activities affect the level of sea rise?
04:36 Okay, let me put that this way.
04:39 For Metro Manila, the case of Metro Manila, the data for 1947 up to 1964, that's the pre-industrialization of Metro Manila.
04:50 You are looking at a 0.48 millimeter, so it's stable.
04:55 So it's not even a one millimeter rate of sea level rise.
04:59 That's the 1947 up to 1964.
05:01 But in 1965, there was this urbanization of Metro Manila.
05:07 People are coming in.
05:09 So there's a population growth going on.
05:12 So you already have the sea level rise at a very high rate, 14.4 millimeters.
05:19 So there must be a connection with this too, the urbanization of Metro Manila and the population coming in for work.
05:28 But for the reclamation, we don't have data for that one.
05:33 But I can only say, based on the tides in the area, it's still the same.
05:38 That's why I'm talking about the tides in Metro Manila.
05:43 It's still the same.
05:43 So there's no change of tides.
05:46 But we don't know, we're not for sure that those could affect the circulation of tides in the future.
05:56 Okay, Dennis, what does this ultimately mean for us living in Metro Manila?
06:00 Are we going to see more flooding?
06:01 Is our land shrinking?
06:03 What is the ultimate effect of this localized sea level rise?
06:08 Yes, because you've heard the climate change.
06:12 Climate change is here.
06:13 So there would be a rising of the tides.
06:19 So there would be a sort of a population displacement of population perhaps.
06:24 Let me see here.
06:28 So populations need to move further away from our coastlines, low-lying areas.
06:34 Ecological disruption.
06:36 Yes, yes.
06:38 The ecological systems will be disrupted because of salt intrusion.
06:42 You know, floodings, right, frequent flooding or inundation.
06:48 And you were saying the rapid loss of land and of course population will be displaced.
06:57 And the economic problems that would result from this displacement.
07:02 So it's certainly a chain reaction of events that we should be quite concerned about.
07:06 It is something that we should be paying close attention to.
07:10 We hope to get to the bottom of this.
07:11 And we thank you for this little bit of a primer.
07:13 We hope to talk to you more about this, Dennis.
07:15 Thank you so much for joining us this morning here on New Day.
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