Memorandum for the Petitioners | 79
Philippines is, therefore, compromised. The United Nations estimates that up
to thirteen percent (13%) of mangroves in the Pacific Island countries
336
and territories will disappear due to sea-level rise alone by 2100 .
C.
r
r
Increasing
cyclones
intensity
of
tropical
8. 18. In the past sixty-five (65) years there has been a slight decrease
in the frequency of tropical cyclones passing through the Philippine Area of
Responsibility (PAR), but a slight increase in the frequency of extreme
tropical cyclones with maximum wind speeds of 150 kph or greater. This has
led to an increase in the annual rate of damage and costs caused to the
Philippines.337 By the mid-21st century, assuming large increases in GHG
concentrations, tropical cyclones in the Philippine region will likely remain
the same or decrease. In the same period, however, results show an increase
338
in the intensity of tropical cyclones in the Philippines.
8.19. More than six thousand people lost their lives and over a million
dwellings were destroyed from super typhoon Haiyan. In total, more than 16
339
Million people were in some way affected by the typhoon. Super Typhoon
Mangkhut made landfall in northern Philippines as a category 5 last
Tragically, the cascading consequences are still
September 2018.
340
unfolding.
8 .20 . As further explained in Section D, Part VIII below, there is
scientific evidence that that climate change likely made super typhoon Haiyan
more intense— as it had larger maximum wind coverage, it had moved faster,
and it had higher storm surges at shore.341
D.
Rainfall
8.21. Climate projections made by the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), PAGASA, and others, based on
UNEP (2006), Pacific Island Mangroves in a Changing Climate and Rising Sea, p. 9, available at
https://wedocs. unep.Org/bitstream/handle/20.500. l 1822/11812 /rsrsl 79.pdf ?sequence= l &isAilowed =y ( last
accessed on 12 September 2019).
337
De Guzman, R ., supra note 302, pp. 97-98.
338
Ibid.; also Exhibit “Y” to “Y-27,” Printed PowerPoint presentation of Ms. Rosalina de Guzman, entitled
Observed Climate Trends and Projections in the Philippinesslide 27.
339
Effects of Typhoon Yolanda ( Haiyan), p. 3, available at
http://www.ndrrmc.gov.ph/attachments/article/ 1329/Effects of Typhoon_YOLANDA_( HAIYAN) SitRep
No 10 10NOV2013 0600H.pdf (last accessed on 12 September 2019).
340
See Exhibit “EEEEEEE” to “EEEEEEE-3,” Statement of Brenda Ekwurzel, dated 20 September 2018, p.
3, citing Soria, J. L. A., Switzer, A. D., Villanoy, C. L., Fritz, H. M., Bilgera, P. H. T., Cabrera, O. C.,
Siringan, F. P .s Maria, Y. Y. S., Ramos, R. D., and Fernandez, 1. Q., 2015, Repeat storm surge disasters of
Typhoon Haiyan and its 1897 predecessor in the Philippines, Bulletin of American Meteorological Society,
doi:10.1175/BAMS-D- 14-00245.1 .
341
Ibid
336
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