The recent wave of super typhoon that has rampaged through the Philippines could partly be explained by global warming. If one has noticed it, Milenyo and Reming had more winds that are stronger than ever before than rain which explains why so many houses and infrastructure were blown away instead of being submerged in floodwater.

Recalling my ecology class, if the planet is warmer, and it is, it causes more typhoons, cyclones and tornadoes because a warmer planet leads to a warmer atmosphere, which in turn yields to faster winds. Simply because warmer air is less dense and therefore is more easily carried around the planet thanks to its rotation and other factors.

We humans suffer this ugly end of global warming, already we are easily overwhelmed and could barely cope with its damages to material and human life. How you ever wondered though, how global warming affects the other animals and plants that share this planet with us?

The video below is just one of the most visible and earliest signs that every living organism in this planet is affected by global warming, with often lethal consequences.

Some say that global warming’s effects would be felt years in the future and not now. A recent new study as reported in the National Geographic website has a different story; Scientists say that Global warming is already causing extinctions. From Polar Bears in the Arctic regions, to the Harlequin frogs native to the cloud forests of Costa Rica down to the Emperor penguins in the Antarctic. All are suffering and struggling to survive in this planet that is rapidly changing thanks to our human activities.

We may be recoiling from the ravages of super typhoons, complaining about power brownouts, wishing for a box of that special donut, fearing the loss of internet connections and all the inconveniences it brings, but somewhere else in the planet, animals and plants are dying and disappearing from existence. And all of us has a hand in it.

• Join the Earth Hour 2008 (1)
• Global warming means more super typhoons (7)
• Windbags and climate change (4)
• Raw Sewage – a goldmine for new viruses (0)
• Basyang is just the first storm to visit (3)