With the approval of Administrator, Usec. Peter N. Tiangco, PhD, NAMRIA, through its Hydrography Branch (HB), granted the respective requests of ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel; CNN Philippines; and PTV Philippines for sharing in their respective programs of the agency's data and information on sea-level rise (SLR). Physical Oceanography Division-HB Chief Dennis B. Bringas was the resource person for the different programs which first aired online on 24-25 August 2023.

 

 

The content of the information sharing mostly focused on the differing rates of local SLR in the country through the years, climate change, and the causes and effects of global warming. Global warming affects bodies of water and eventually, land. It causes ice melt and ocean thermal expansion leading to more water volume, salt intrusion which may affect some marine species, changes to the coastline, and land subsidence. These are outcomes of anthropogenic activities like groundwater extraction, deforestation, destruction of vegetation and wetlands, and reclamation, among others. The effects of changes brought on to water and land redound to frequent flooding, inundation, population displacement, and lost economic opportunities.

 

There was an emphasis on SLR as being highly localized across the coastlines of the country. Tidal data on Manila Bay strongly suggest the rate of sea-level rise from 1965-2022, a period marked by the rapid urbanization of the Metro Manila area, is 14.4 millimeters/year which is roughly four times the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) yearly global average rate of 3.4 millimeters/year. Mr. Bringas enjoined everyone to balance development with taking care of the environment.

 

Mr. Bringas was also the resource person for the online article, posted on 26 August 2023, of Raphael Bosano for ABS-CBN News. The article was "Metro Manila's sea-level rising higher than global average, expert warns." Prior to the interviews and the article, Mr. Bringas had made an exhaustive presentation on SLR during the Coastal Engineering Summit at the Mariano Marcos State University on 14-15 August 2023. The presentation included sea-level trends at the tide stations from which observed data come from, types and uses of data other than sea-level data application, the coupling effect of SLR and land subsidence, and findings from the Coastal SLR Project with the Department of Geodetic Engineering of the University of the Philippines.