Climate change is a global phenomenon that is evidently seen with the

significant changes in weather parameters. In 2007, United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has characterized climate change with
these parameters: increase in average global temperature (global warming); change
in cloud cover and precipitation particularly over land; melting of ice caps and
glaciers and reduced snow cover; and increase in ocean temperatures and ocean
acidity due to seawater absorbing heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
These changes are manifested with human activities increasing the amount of
greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO), and
methane (CH), leading to an increase in amount of heat the Earths atmosphere
can withheld. The wide ranging effects of climate change can be seen in different
sectors, from the environmental, as well to the socio-economic and other related
sectors. As the scenarios given by the UNFCCC (2007) in their report, changes in
rainfall pattern cause severe water shortage and/or flooding; the melting of the
glaciers can lead to flooding and soil erosion; increasing temperatures can cause
shifts in crop growing seasons that can result to food shortage, as well as changes
in the distribution of disease vectors leaving a higher risk for people for certain
diseases.
In terms of the effects of climate change to the biodiversity, researchers have
seen the effects of increasing temperature will potentially severely increase the
extinction rates for many habitats, as well for different species inhabiting. As
mentioned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), if the
temperature increase surpasses by 1.5-2.0C, 20-30% of faunal and floral species
are at risk of being extinct. This situation is significant, especially to those species
that are already threatened due to low population, restricted patchy habitats and

limited climatic ranges. With this, almost a million species may experience
increased threats to extinction due to climate change (Djoghlaf and Ganapin, 2010).
In the Philippines, climate change is very evident with the occurrence of
different events, such as: the strong El Nio events occurred every five years, as
observed to be more frequent since 1980;, an increasing trend on the number of
strong typhoons (wind speed greater than 185 kph) hitting the country; and rising of
sea levels in the five major stations (Manila, Legazpi Cebu, Davao, Jolo). The
impacts of these events have been negatively affecting the agricultural sectors and
the people from the damages occurred from typhoons (Pulhin and Lasco, 2010). In
terms of the impacts of climate change on the biodiversity of the country, Cruz and
colleagues mentioned from the IPCC 4 th Assessment Report that climate change can
likely affect forest expansion and migration, extinction of many species, and
reduction in the diversity of ecosystem (as cited in Pulhin and Lasco, 2010).
In the study of Cruz in 1998, with the climate change that can cause increase
in temperature and amount of rainfall, there may be an expansion of the rainforests,
including the old growth and residual forests. Aside from that, the study has
mentioned the effects of increase in rainfall and temperature on the different forest
types in the country and its distribuiton. With the increase in rainfall and
temperature, dry forests are estimated to be lost. At 25% increase in rainfall, there
will be a 30.5% increase in moist forests, and 0.1% increase in wet forests. As the
amount of precipitation has increased by 50%, there will be a 47% decline in moist
forests, while 106% increase in wet forests. For the rainforests, an estimated 365,00
ha development has observed at 50% increase in rainfall and 1C increase in
temperature, but experienced a slightly decrease in area, as the temperature
increases by 1.5-2C. At 100% increase in precipitation, there is a decline of 50% in

the moist forests, while an increase of 2 M ha in rainforests and 32% in wet forests
(as cited in Pulhin and Lasco, 2010). As the area of forests has been reduced due to
climate change, it can threaten wildlife species living in these forests. Land
conversion brought upon by the people for farming or other livelihood opportunities
has enabled the opening of more forested lands, giving a higher risk for the wildlife
living in that area.
In 1998, Cruz has mentioned that there may be loss of few species of flora
and fauna in areas that have significant increase in temperature and decrease in
rainfall. Also, the occurrence of pests and diseases, associated with climate change,
may modify the species composition, structure, and functions of the forest
ecosystems (as cited in Pulhin and Lasco, 2010).
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