Typhoon Haiyan: A Wake-Up Call to the People

Our teacher made me and my classmates watched a documentary video related to

Typhoon Haiyan. Typhoon Haiyan or also known as Typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines on
November 7, 2013, and it was considered the deadliest typhoon in the country’s history. This
typhoon made the Tacloban suffer large and catastrophic losses, with thousands of people losing
their lives, properties, and houses, and 6 million workers being left without any means of
providing for their families or earning a living. And it just so happens that climate change is the
reason why this, one of the most dangerous typhoons ever recorded, occurred.

According to experts in the documentary film, changes in the weather pattern and the rise
in global temperature are related. They also said that warming ocean waters, which can feed
storms and raise sea levels, is a result of climate change. The melting of glaciers and warming of
the oceans, which were plainly related to climate change, also contribute to sea level rise.

While watching this film, I felt sadness, and to be honest it made me cry because of the
stories of the survivors of the typhoon. I also have these different what-ifs because it was
mentioned also in the film that in the coming decades, deadlier storms are expected to hit the
lands if climate change continues to cause more powerful heat waves and sea levels rise. The
thought of it was very alarming wanting me to participate now actively in different programs that
lead to protecting our environment.

Climate change is caused by the excessive use of greenhouse gases. We are partly at fault
that is why we are now experiencing severe storms and a too hot environment. Climate change is
not a joke, we and the government should really wake up, act and do the programs and simple
things that can save our environment before it is too late.