DROUGHT. Dry spell. Dry condition. These three are different from one another, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
Pagasa describes drought as three consecutive months of way below normal rainfall (60 percent reduction from average) or five consecutive months of below normal rainfall condition (21 percent to 60 percent reduction from average).
A dry spell is defined as three consecutive months of below normal rainfall (21 percent to 60 percent reduction from average) or two months of consecutive way below normal rainfall (more than 60 percent reduction from average).
Dry condition, on the other hand, is defined as having two consecutive months of below normal rainfall (21-60 percent drop in average rainfall).
Whatever. Seriously, freak weather patterns spawned by climate change upset planting seasons and hurt crop yields. A prolonged drought, dry spell or dry condition surely adversely affect farm production and, in turn, our food security.
With the Philippines still mainly an agricultural country, the impact of the current El NiƱo will be hard as the country had experienced in the past. Advocates of organic farming are pitching for the shift to organic farming. The excessive use of chemical fertilizers in farms contributes to global warming and climate change.
By shifting from conventional farming to organic farming, greenhouse gas emissions will be lessened and help fight the adverse effects of climate change, which in turn will weaken the El NiƱo phenomenon.
Chemical-based agriculture, which accounts for 33 percent of greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere, is being blamed for global warming. Organic farming helps stabilize the climate by reducing greenhouse gas emissions as it makes use of organic fertilizer, thus helping farmers veer away from excessive use of often harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides that pollute the air, soil and water.
The problem is actually interconnected. Unless authorities realize this, the cycle of El NiƱo and climate change will continue to be with us.
