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Expert warns factors combining for a major PHL natural disaster


HAWAII, USA - Climate change, urbanization, and explosive population growth will create a "perfect scenario" for "major disasters” in the Philippines, a scholar from the Hawaii-based leadership and research institution East-West Center said.

Senior Fellow Allen Clark told visiting journalists from the Philippines that urbanization is exploding in many Asian countries, including the Philippines, with the migration of the rural population to the cities creating a massive explosion in urban slums.

“It is creating a high number of people living in vulnerable situations. And so if you combine climate change and the urbanization process, increasing the marginalization of a large group of people... disasters are going to be much larger and more severe than we've seen before," said Clark.

It was thus important for the Philippine government to study what is happening. "It has to look at the structural shift that's taking place and were climate change impacts are actually happening," Clark added.

Serious economic impact

Dealing with the effects of climate change can have a “serious economic impact,” especially if it affects large swaths of the population more often.

“If you have one dollar and along comes disaster and it takes away your one dollar that's a big deal, that's a huge deal, because that is what kills development in developing countries, that is what keeps people in grinding poverty," Clark explained.

While the Philippines had successfully and effectively learned how to respond to natural calamities, including typhoons, it was nevertheless important for the Philippine government to have a “national development plan” that deals specifically with disaster response in highly-populated areas. — DVM, GMA News

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