Our favorite whipping boy

Again.  PDI came out with a report entitled "Climate change blamed for storms, flooding, drought".  It starts off  with "Officials have warned Filipinos to brace against the inconvenient truth of devastating storms, flooding and drought unless policies and projects are put in place to mitigate climate change."   

Of course, it also mentions that oft mistaken and proven otherwise in many fora claim that "A major factor is global warming—the increase in the oceanic and atmospheric temperatures of the planet resulting in the melting of the ice caps and the rising of the seas."  

Ok. So they say.  Quite convenient actually.

The weird thing is that the report also talks about other causes of the destruction that the past typhoons had.  The geologists interviewed, in fact, say, that the mess isn't because of climate change per se, but ... wait for it ... wait for it ... 

"... the proliferation of fishponds and aquaculture projects in the major waterways and in the coasts has slowed down the flow of water from the typhoons and the dams, resulting in prolonged flooding in residential and rural areas ...

"If there were no fishponds and garbage clogging the canals and rivers of the region, “the outflow would have been quicker ...


"... noted that deforestation had caused flooding in areas which did not experience it in the past ...


"... said that illegal logging, slash-and-burn farming and quarrying in mountain areas would lead to soil erosion and flooding."

So what is it really?  Where is global warming in all this?

Also, the report says that a senator said this: 

“If (Pagasa) can predict the volume of rainfall, dam operators can already release water in increments that would not be destructive,” Legarda explained.

“If this kind of meteorological information can be determined, say, one week before a typhoon arrives, does it not make common sense that the dam operators would not release the water only on the day it finally arrives,” she asked.

I do not know how she can say this.  Weather is difficult to forecast, and will always be so.  I do not think PAGASA, in their right mind, can and, they definitely will not try.  They want to keep their jobs you know.