Climate Tricks 57, "Preventing flash floods" and the Green SONA

Heavy rains and flash flood are natural and cyclical, nature-made and not "man-made". Big El Nino and drought is often followed by big La Nina and frequent/heavy rains. To help prevent or minimize flash flood, build more dams and "harvest" the water, instead of cursing the flood. After the wet months, or during El Nino years, we will thank the floods that deposited water in the dams.

Weird comment  from Cabanatuan City Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara, he  said, "The water really came from the mountains," Haaaaa. I thought the flood water came from the sea :-)

The problem here is that people and officials think there is only global warming and no global cooling. That there is only "man-made" CC and no "nature-made" CC. That less flood or no flood or more flood are all proof of "man-made" CC so more money should be sent to the UN, CCC, DENR, LGUs, other government bureaucracies and they will "fight" less flood and no flood and more flood. Instead of using that money to (a) build more dams in rivers upstream, (b) do large-scale dredging of silted rivers and lakes, or (c) build artificial lakes in low-lying areas as temporary dumping ground of heavy flash flood.

Three days ago, Rappler hosted the "Green SONA 2016" (State of Nature Assessment). For the climate alarmism movement, if there is less flood or no flood, we should be alarmed. If there is plenty of flood, we should also be alarmed. Whatever weather and climate -- wet or wetter, dry or drier, hot or hotter, cold or colder -- we should be alarmed, be worried, be scared. Thus we should send more money to the UN, CCC, DENR, LGUs, WWF, Greenpeace, etc -- and they will save us from less flood and no flood and more flood. http://www.rappler.com/.../142048-live-green-convergence...

For the "man-made" warming/CC religion, these non-stop rains and flooding elsewhere were caused by our modern life, by our cars, air-cons, energy-intensive industries and condos and malls and airplanes and buses. http://interaksyon.com/.../habagat-to-dump-rains-on-luzon... Thus, we should have less fossil fuels, less or no coal power plants. Modern life via reliable and cheaper electricity from coal is wrong, that is the message of CCC and Manny de Guzman, Lucille Sering, Yeb Sano, Tony la Vina, Sens. Legarda and Zubiri, etc.

Meanwhile, two stories:

1. "In peer-reviewed research, Kelly argued carbon dioxide should be considered the byproduct of the "immense benefits" of a technologically advanced society. Cutting carbon, he added, could result in a dramatic reduction in the world's quality of life that would usher in mass starvation, poverty and civil strife. Massive decarbonization is "only possible if we wish to see large parts of the population die from starvation, destitution or violence in the absence of enough low-carbon energy to sustain society." http://www.cnbc.com/.../climate-accord-irrelevant-and-co2...

2. “Professor Valentina Zharkova (Northumbria University) and colleagues… Professor Valentina Zharkova (Northumbria University) and colleagues’ … research suggests that the next three solar cycles will see solar activity reduce significantly into the middle of the century, producing conditions similar to those last seen in the 1600s – during the Maunder Minimum. This may have implications for temperatures here on Earth.”

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/08/09/solar-physicist-sees-global-cooling-ahead/

Flooding, Garbage and MMDA

Another horrible street flooding after heavy rains last Wednesday afternoon, October 1. Photo from interaksyon.com.

A good friend, Bruce Hall, asked these questions last week in his fb wall,

Does garbage cause flooding? Has there been a study done proving that? By who? I constantly hear politicians blame flooding not on them or the government but upon garbage. I have never seen a single reference to any proof of that. It’s been asserted and repeated. Has it been proven?

Good questions by Bruce. And I think what causes or contributes to frequent street flooding is not so much the floating and new garbage but the decayed and old garbage that have settled in sewerage bed. Thus, for a 3-feet diameter drainage, if half of it is already occupied by soil, mud, stones and various solid waste, the water-holding capacity of drainage is cut by half. The excess water goes to the streets, and we have frequent street floods. The same problem applies to creeks and rivers, especially in central Luzon rivers as many of them were heavily silted by Pinatubo's lahar.

So the single most important solution to frequent street flooding is large-scale and sustained dredging of those drainage, creeks, esteros and rivers.

Bruce added, “The real problem of course is that Manila is built on what is in essence a wet land, a flood plain. It is built between Laguna de Bay and Manila Bay, with rivers and creeks crisscrossing all through what is now Metro Manila. If you build on a swamp, you shouldn't be surprised when it acts like a swamp.”

That is another rational explanation. Yesterday morning when I got off from a bus at Crossing-Edsa, front of Shangrila Mall, I saw about 6-7 young men and women in yellow MMDA shirts, each carrying a bundle of violation tickets. Their job? penalizing and mulcting on clueless people who throw even small pieces of garbage, say a candy wrapper. I don't know how much the penalty is, maybe P200 or more. I asked one lady why they are doing that, she quickly replied "bumabaha na po kasi palagi" (it's flooding too often).

Ok, many Filipinos indeed need to be reminded and disciplined about the ugliness of littering so it may be a good move. But if they really wish to control or stop the arbitrary throwing of solid waste that block the drainage, MMDA should have people in boats watching those who live near the creeks, esteros and  rivers as many or majority of these people throw not just candy wrappers or cigarette butts, but all sorts of kitchen and household wastes, and give violation tickets.

Can MMDA do that? I doubt it. Why? These poor folks have no money to pay the penalty. Whereas those who cross Edsa generally have work and have money to pay the fine, instantly perhaps. And thus, instant money for the MMDA.

This is similar to those anti-smoke belching units (ASBUs) of MMDA and other city governments of Metro Manila. They harass and penalize private motorists who drive diesel vehicles (passing rate here is generally zero, all vehicles flunk their smoke test) even if these vehicles are clearly non-smoke belchers, but tolerate obviously belching jeeps and buses.

In short, those “environmental police” or anti-littering campaigns are mainly money-making projects (extortion with receipt?) by LGUs incl MMDA, and not so much to control street flooding.

Per sq.m of land in the whole country or even in Metro Manila, Edsa crossing front of Shangrila mall is generally clean. Yet there were 6-7 "environmental police" standing there to enforce cleanliness, with fines and penalties to violators.

When I passed by the same place around 2:30pm yesterday (the conference that I attended was at Edsa Shangrila Hotel), the guys were no longer there. I assume they already met their quota of fines for the day. I also assume that perhaps they are ashamed of their work, penalizing people for minor littering while the medium- and big time garbage dumpers are not penalized. Hence, the need to leave their posts quick whenever possible.

When government bureaucracies keep expanding, their people's rationality and sense of fairness decline; these are replaced by irrationality and the politics of envy.

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Global Warming Hits the Philippines, Part 3, January 26, 2014 
Manila Flooding Torture, June 26, 2014
Dirty Creeks 3: Divisoria, Paco, August 09, 2012

Manila Flooding Torture

This afternoon, around 3:15pm, there was heavy rain for an hour in Makati, then light rains for the next 20 minutes or so. Many parts of Metro Manila experienced such downpour, also some surrounding provinces. Many streets were flooded.

(photo from ANC24; descent from Skyway, going to Buendia intersection, Makati)

Heaaaavvyy traffic followed in many areas of the metropolis, especially in Buendia and Ayala Avenue in Makati.  Productivity losses today is big; fuel consumption by cars and buses is big. I think this unresolved flooding in many Makati streets will affect the candidacy of VP Binay in 2016.

That area at the PNR rails, Mayapis st-Buendia near SLEX flyover, is a perennial headache. Flash flood from Ayala, Buendia, other streets go to that small and narrow creek. The Binays were the Mayors (father, mother, now the son) of Makati for 28 years now, uninterrupted. They could have done something significant in that area. 

(photo from inquirer.net; Skyway and Buendia-SLEX intersection below, Makati)

One reason why I support another reclamation project in Manila Bay is that the many creeks and rivers in the metropolis need large scale, monster and sustained dredging. Get all those mud, soil and solid wastes and dump them not in sanitary landfills in Quezon City or Montalban or Bulacan, but in a new land to be created at Manila Bay. It's the quickest and cheapest solution that I can think of to minimize frequent street flooding in Makati, other cities of Metro Manila.

A friend suggested that the projected sea level rise will endanger MM and other major urban centers of the country. Well, that projected sea level rise is more alarmist and sensational than realistic. A good paper from Ed Caryl in NTZ, Data Show Holocene Sea Levels TrendingDownwards…2 Meters Higher 4000 And 7000 Years Ago! (05 May 2014),

In the last 8000 years, sea level has been substantially higher than at present, up to 2 meters or more higher in two periods four to seven thousand years ago. Sea level during the Holocene has been falling since that period.

(See level rise from 22,000 to 6,000 years ago.)

A friend who has worked for more than 15 years in Makati, Eniale S.,said that there was major drainage re-piping on both sides of the railroad (intersection Buendia & SLEX) from former Eastern Telecoms and where the new Cash n' Carry is now, across the railroad up to Makati Med area. Huge drainage pipes, diameters that can accommodate a regular-sized car, and heavy equipment were used for more than a year. 

The creek in that area, Mayapis St. along the rail tracks, is simply too narrow, too shallow, to absorb huge volume of flood waters from many parts of Makati.

Good project by the Makati City government then. But I think the drainage is not regularly dredged. Just one heavy flash flood can bring in tons of mud and solid waste into the belly of those drainage pipes, and there are many flash floods yearly. If they are not cleared and dredged yearly, perhaps even a tricycle would no longer fit in those huge pipes. And that contributes to frequent street flooding.

It's a pity that Buendia-Ayala-Pasay Road network is where the employees, managers and CEOs of many of the country's big companies and financial institutions pass daily, and they are subjected to this regular traffic torture. 

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See also:
Climate Tricks 23: Using Typhoon Haiyan for Climate and Energy Rent-Seeking, November 30, 2013 
Global Warming Hits the Philippines, Part 3, January 26, 2014 
Climate Tricks 27: More Risks and Danger Ahead, Send More Money to the UN, April 01, 2014

Weekend Fun 39: Funny Photos in Manila Floods

Some funny photos I saw in facebook, other sites, in recent days. None of these came from my camera. Filipino humor can remain notorious even in some catastrophic situations.

Upper right photo, flooding in the 60s.

Below, I posted this earlier in Manila Flooding, August 2012.

Lower left photo, I think this was during the typhoon Ondoy flooding in September 2009. But this photo keeps circulating in facebook, other sites.

Happy weekend.
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See also:
Weekend Fun 31: Filipino Shop Signs, March 17, 2012
Weekend Fun 32: Angry Birds, Angry Taxpayers, March 24, 2012
Weekend Fun 35: Miriam D. Santiago is Cute, June 03, 2012
Weekend Fun 36: The Karl Marx Mastercard, July 06, 2012
Weekend Fun 37: On Fighting Poverty, July 07, 2012
Weekend Fun 38: Skylab Motorcycles, July 14, 2012

Manila Flooding, August 2012

No tropical cyclone or storm yesterday and today, just plain heavy rains due to southwest monsoon affecting so many provinces in the country. Some photos below, mostly from the facebook wall of "24/7 Cool and Smooth Rhythms."

Marikina river overflowing...

The University of Santo Tomas (UST) center field. Other photos below in front of Manila City

SM Bacoor in Cavite, not far from Manila.