Image : Flickr by net_efekt

Climate Change is the wild card of the 21st Century. It isn’t a question of will it happen because it is already happening and between 2010 to 2050 climate change, or rather abnormal weather will be the norm. In a given day, we could go as hot as mid-summer and a few hours later have gale force winds and thundershowers like the Typhoons of August and September.

This isn’t an article on CO2 causing global warming and climate change nor is it about humans causing it, we leave that to the great scientists in academic and government institutions. This article is about how climate change will be the wild card in business, in building and ruining fortunes.

Only fools will think that Climate Change will not affect business in a profound way just as the internet did. Understand Climate Change, adjust accordingly and you’ll be rewarded.

General Effects of Global Warming/ Climate Change

• Higher sea levels and a warmer oceans
• Stronger and unpredictable weather
• Destruction/ alteration of ecosystems

Higher sea levels :

The Philippines is an archipelago where the number of islands grows and shrink as the tide come and go. One of the major effects of global warming is higher sea levels which to an archipelago is bad news. As early as today, Maldives, an small archipelago nation is sinking with their president wanting to relocate the entire country.

Effects to  Philippine business environment:

1.) One of the major tourist attraction of the Philippines are our beaches, and higher sea levels directly threatens our beaches. What if Boracay sinks ? it is a possibility. Seaside resorts will be the most affected mostly due to losing the beach itself and they have to spend money of protecting their infrastructure.

2.) With the rise of sea level means the relocation of countless barangays (small villages) and entire communities due to safety reasons or due to that their original villages are already eaten by the sea.

3.) The threat of higher sea levels will be mostly felt by  reclaimed areas such as the land where the Mall of Asia stands. Just a few centimeters rise in sea levels would need higher sea walls to combat it which are expensive. Other effects such as erosion and seeping will cause even more headaches and costs.

Stronger and unpredictable weather

Image by NASA

It is already evident today, cold and wet mornings followed by a searing hot mid-afternoons with afternoon thunderstorms, a relatively quiet early evening and then thunderstorms at night again. It could be sunny and yet a few minutes later it is raining cats and dogs. Due to the warming of the seas we have more and stronger typhoons and due to El Nino, even drought is a possibility for a country surrounded by water.

Effects to  Philippine business environment:

1.) More typhoons means more canceled classes, and work days. Typhoons also bring in death and destruction from bringing down billboards to numerous landslides in the provinces. Structures will take a beating and those that could not withstand the forces will be damaged or worse destroyed.

2.) Construction is usually done on sunny days and clear nights for safety and because in order for concrete (prime building material in the Philippines) to be strong there should be no excess water. With unexpected and sudden rain showers building buildings has become costly (rain can ruin a lot of construction materials) and slow.

3.) With stronger rains, wind and typhoons, electrical outages or “brownouts” will be much more common due to the aging electric distribution infrastructure, one power station getting knocked out and plunge the capital Manila into darkness. And with electricity powering virtually everything in our lives, losing it would be bring our lives to a crawl.

4.) Food Shortages and destruction of crops. Thanks to Albert to bringing this up ! with stronger Typhoons, crop damage and destruction will increases causing food shortages and higher food prices.

Destruction/ alteration of ecosystems

One of the beauties of the Philippines is its rich biodiversity and generally untouched nature (mostly due to government bureaucracy and rebellion) but recently there are trends that pointing to their destruction or alternation due to climate change. The most well known is the bleaching of corals due to warmer seas that cause a boom in algae, which also causes fish kills in some areas. Other effects include due to rain and landslides larger mammals and birds die due to drowning and being in a landslide. Abroad warmer temperatures has allowed certain animals/insects to invade places where otherwise they would not have survived due to the weather/temperature such as mosquitoes and invasive populations.

Innovations in response to climate change

Although climate change and global warming will bring a lot of hurt to us, it would also bring a lot of opportunity to earn, and improve our country. It is important to remember that all nations on Earth would be facing climate change and global warming although in different manifestations. It is possible to survive and even thrive in this environment ! In fact it gives us a chance to shine.

Some ideas :

1.) All weather construction : Bad weather always delays and stops construction and delays cost money, lots of money. If we could create a system where construction could happen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week regardless of weather it would not only save money and time but also on resources. Maybe we could cover the entire work site shielding the entire work site.

2.) Newer and better rural barangays : Relocation will be a major problem for the country in the coming years as people are forced to move due to safety reasons due to the sea or landslides. This creates an opportunity to create villages that are not only safe but also efficient. We have a chance to redesign the entire country.

3.) Moving to the cloud : With flooding, landslides, power outages and other forces being more a threat to businesses, it is increasingly important to store information on the cloud because having your data on just one server is too dangerous. This is more important for internet companies where power outages could shut down their entire website for hours on end causing loss in revenues and oppurtunity.

4.) Back-ups and back-ups of back-ups : A company or an individual who doesn’t have any back-ups (information or resources) will find themselves in a pickle when faced with a disaster, and without back-ups standing back up will be near impossible.

5.) The Internet : The safest place to be is at home when a typhoon hits, not on the road going to work. Getting stranded will be more common tomorrow than today with air travel and sea travel hampered by bad weather. Not being able to get to work, or get back from a meeting is costly, the internet can help. Numerous online applications such as Zoho, Basecamp and even Google Docs can allow anyone to work on stuff anywhere with an internet connection and with internet connection being available almost everywhere it is better than nothing. Even on good weather the internet could save time and resources because if they could do the work at home, they save resources by not commuting.

Businesses will have to adapt to climate change and global warming or risk being eliminated by businesses that has adapted to climate change and global warming or get destroyed by these forces themselves.

It is truly Innovate or Die.

Of course, if we still do not take care of our environment and continue our wasteful and dirty ways there is no way this planet could support us. Innovate but towards a much sustainable future.

Oh please answer this survey if you can : http://www.survs.com/survey?id=V30UBRE3&channel=SBX25VGBUN