increased by 40% since pre-industrial times.46 The observed warming in the climate system is unequivocal and so far the global mean of earth atmospheric near surface temperature has warmed by roughly 0.8 degrees during the period 1880-2012.47 Figure 1: Natural Greenhouse Effect v. Human Enhanced Greenhouse Effect48 Source: Will Elder, National Park Service As an archipelagic nation, the Philippines is under severe threat of climate change. The country’s inhabitants, nature, and infrastructure are !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 46 Ciais, P., C. Sabine, G. Bala, L. Bopp, V. Brovkin, J. Canadell, A. Chhabra, R. DeFries, J. Galloway, M. Heimann, C. Jones, C. Le Quéré, R.B. Myneni, S. Piao and P. Thornton, 2013: Carbon and Other Biogeochemical Cycles. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA at 467. 47 IPCC, 2013: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA at 4-5. 48 U.S. National Park Service, What is Climate Change, http://www.nps.gov/grba/learn/nature/what-isclimate-change.htm (last accessed on Sept. 15, 2015). ! ! ! ! ! 25 !