Global warming has become a catch-all phrase to explain everything that goes wrong in the environment these days, even among Filipinos, whether they live in urban centers or out in the farms or the hinterlands. But while Filipinos have embraced the idea that climate change has refashioned the way they live, the risks attributed to extreme weather patterns have not been easy concepts to explain in this country. For example, the Aquino administration now knows people did not understand “storm surge” well enough to fear its impact, so 6,268 people died and 1,061 people are still missing after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) swept through the Eastern Visayas region on Nov. 8, 2013.

Cabreza, V. (2015, January 21). The language of climate change. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A9.