Feb. 18, 2013 — The widespread reduction in Arctic sea ice is causing significant changes to the balance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is shown in a new study conducted by researchers from Lund University in Sweden, among others.

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As I write this column early Wednesday morning, the final text for negotiations in the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) came out and was promptly emailed to me by friends and colleagues attending the events in Brazil. I was midway in relating how uncertain it was to have a negotiating text in time for the opening of the meeting as disagreements over the draft continued on even until yesterday. With only days before the opening of the Rio+20 convention, many parts of the text were strongly contested by country delegates.

AROUND twenty years ago, the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), popularly known as the “Earth Summit,” took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It gathered over a hundred heads of states. The conference produced several important outcomes: the Rio Declaration which contains a declaration of principles on the environment and development, the Agenda 21 which is a 40-chapter document that outlines a blue print on implementing sustainable development, the Forest Principles, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The leading scientific journals usually have a yearend issue that summarizes the year that was in science.
ITALSScienceEND ITALS magazine has hailed the AIDS treatment therapy study HPTN 052 of Myron Cohen and collaborators as its “Breakthrough of the Year.” This clinical study showed lowered infection rates of HIV-1 (by a factor of 20) between partners using a cocktail of antiretroviral drugs. This treatment, described in a paper in the ITALSNew England Journal of MedicineEND ITALS, combined with other promising clinical trials, may be “The Beginning of the End of AIDS,” as the World AIDS Day (December 1) event last year in George Washington University heralded.

At the end of each year, we usually take stock of what transpired and assess our strengths and weaknesses in order to do better next year. Usually in the form of “New Year’s Resolutions,” we list down what we have to do for the next 365 days. In the light of the recent disasters in Mindanao, we list here the top 7 things we can do to address climate vulnerability in our country.

As the year comes to a close, it now appears that Typhoon Sendong (international name Washi) is the deadliest storm of 2011. It affected more than 27,000 families in around 190 barangays, in 24 municipalities and cities in the 13 provinces of Region VI, Region VII, Region IX, Region X, Region XI, CARAGA and the ARMM. Retrieval operations are still going on and thousands of families remain in evacuation centers as their houses were destroyed and swept away by flash floods. With nearly a thousand dead and still more missing, many are asking how ready the Philippines is as a country to increased hazards such as typhoons and other climate change effects.

PRESS RELEASE

September 14, 2011

Just as the bull market for metals has actively pushed the mining industry of the country, the Philippine government welcomed it with open arms with mining applications totaling to 2,136. The liberalization of the local mining industry has been flaunted by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines to gain foreign partnership in the business of mining. They have sponsored a three-day mining conference from September 13 to Sept. 15 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel. The said conference is participated by almost 500 local and international delegates to discuss the global scenario of mining investments and its opportunities.

THE year started with ones—1/1/11—which is not necessarily auspicious but certainly a rare occurrence. A better date to watch for would be 1/10/2011, which is a palindrome (one that reads the same forwards and backwards). As usual, the question at every turn of the year would be what is in store for us. For those inclined to believe soothsayers or the change in signs, one can just pick his or her version of the various fortune-tellers that abound.