During the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Warsaw, Poland, held Monday, the recent Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines was cited as one of the many devastating effects of global warming.
Christiana Figueres, the UN Climate Chief, opened the floor for the two-week conference with a speech of the devastation caused by the Typhoon Haiyan. She requested everyone present to keep this in mind and push for better results than the previous climate talks in 2009. The conference has over 190 nations converging together to find a new agreement to curb the cause and effects of global warming.
The Typhoon Haiyan, also known as Yolanda in the Philippines, is probably the strongest tropical storm ever to be recorded with winds that reached 315 km per hour (195 miles per hr). It had caused major destructions in the country before it eventually reached Vietnam. According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), the intensity of the storm may be classified as Category-5 which probably had at least 10,000 fatalities so far in one of the towns in the Philippines.
The Philippine delegate, Naderev "Yeb" Sano made a moving plea to the conference sharing how much his country was devastated by the typhoon and how he had been anxiously waiting to hear if his relatives had survived. His tear-jerking petition received a standing ovation from the crowd.
He said, "In solidarity with my countrymen who are struggling to find food back home ... I will now commence a voluntary fasting for the climate. This means I will voluntarily refrain from eating food during this (conference) until a meaningful outcome is in sight. We can fix this. We can stop this madness. Right now, right here."
Severe weather conditions like cyclones usually trigger outcries at U.N talks. However, scientists do not support that particular weather episodes can be associated with global warming. They also added that the storms can't be definitely linked to human-caused warming. They do admit however that the rising sea levels will put some countries at risk of storm surges.
There are no expectations that the delegates will arrive soon on any major decision but they might be on the way to an agreement by 2015. Presently, one of the subjects to be discussed is how to recompense countries hampered by the effects of the climate changes.
The U.S delegate Trigg Talley, when asked if the U.S. have definite plans to substantially decrease the emissions target during the talks, said that they need to focus first on the present goal to reach the target of 17 percent decrease of emissions by 2020.
"I think that we are on the right track to achieve it," Talley said.
