The DigitalEnvironmentalist - top environmental and civil engineering blog

I AM DELIGHTED TO TELL MY READERS that my blogsite is chosen as one of the top 50 environmental blogsites and at the same time as one of the top 30 civil engineering sites.

The "Online Engineering Degree" site identified and selected blogs that have reference to engineering, particularly in environmental and civil engineering fields; also provides relevant information on engineering education and learning. The site provides a relevant links to these blogs, including my blog, The DigitalEnvironmentalist as listed in top 6 and 14, environmental engineering and civil engineering, respectively.

Having this recognition, it inspired me more to share my professional experiences - helping Mother Earth to be a healthy and safe environment to live in!

Losing shores, losing more...losing a living

THIS WEEK I RECEIVED EMAILS that informed me about the impacts of global warming, mostly in a negative way. I did write before about Al Gore's award from his documentary film and book, entitled the Inconvenient Truth. To be honest, Gore's projects brought inspirations and awareness to everyone, but I was not impressed with his documentaries, and I dont want to discuss it here, maybe in some other time! And besides I dont believe 100 percent with global warming or climate change. Please respect my judgment or my personal opinion about this - a politically motivated environmental agenda of the 21st century.

Yes, there are manifestations of the changes of our weather condition which the scientific community links it to excessive use of fuels from transportation and other factors coming from manufacturing. Early this morning I had a phone conversation with my friend in Manila using my internet connection with LowRateVOIP online provider and I asked him the present weather in the Philippines. He told me that it is raining in the early part of May! It seems unusual to me, because May is always the best time to travel in the country, and the start of wet season really comes only in June (school time). So, it somehow brought me to think that the 21st century is bringing change to Mother Earth!

Then at the later part of the day, I received three emails sent to my different email addresses. One email was sent by my former boss in AIT, Ma'am Teng Suselo (Musings of a Retiree). The message was sent to her and she forwarded it to her friends, including myself. It was not a serious message but it made me laugh - it composed of visual images. One of them is related to global warming effect - not negatively but positively. Look at the photo below (please when you laugh, do it quietly or maybe a smile will do to appreciate this).

The other email was sent thru my AIT Alumni Phillippines Association Yahoogroup account. One of the former officers of the association sent her congratulary message to her son who won third place in just concluded 2009 World Bank Essay Competition. The competition also asked participants to send photos and videos that focus on two themes: "how does climate change affect you?", and "how can you tackle climate change through youth-led solutions? My friend's son submitted a short video clip entitled as partly the same with journal post's title... Losing shores, losing more. It is a simple presentation but with a strong message to everyone. It struck me most because I came from a coastal town in the Philippines (Romblon) and fishing is the main livelihood in the area, and I understand what the video wants to convey to the viewers especially for the young generations. Also, marine ecosystem is a vital resource of the country especially conserving the coral reefs for fish and other marine life to grow and multiply!

This video also reminded me of my recent application to the Best Job in the World organised by Queensland Tourism - a job search for the Islandcaretaker of the Great Barrier Reef (world heritage site). I thought that having the job for six months could give me confidence to do the same in the Philippines to promote not only tourism but also to protect, conserve and manage the coral reef system of the 7,107 islands in the long term basis. Unfortunately, I was not shortlisted and not successful to impressed the organiser, instead the job was offered to a British adventurer last week.

Finally, the other email from a review site where Im a member too which contains the link of one of the members' recent post in the site. His article discussed the findings from the World Bank's study that climate change has a major impact to "The Coral Triangle" - being considered as the world's richest marine environment. This marine system encompasses the coasts, reefs and seas of Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor." Consequently, it affects the livelihoods of almost 100 million people on these areas.

Having these facts, what do you think, can we battle global warming or climate change? Or is this only a political propaganda? In what way you can help? At the end of the day, this is the way I think: There are more pressing issues than GW or CC such as poverty, hunger, education, toxic wastes, human rights, and terrorism!