Recently in Asia Category

The third largest island in the world, Borneo is politically divided between Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. In the northern half, the Malaysian state of Sarawak harbors extensive rainforests. Recently, however, many of these forests have been threatened by logging and tree and palm oil plantations. Malaysia is currently losing rainforest faster than any other nation in Asia, with the rate of deforestation increasing by a staggering 86% in recent years. 

Growing up in the Philippines, tornados, hurricanes, and the floods that would follow were a common occurrence in my childhood. In the rainy season (between July to December), it would not be uncommon for low-lying areas of my island (called Panay, in the Western Visayas Region) to have floods as high as four meters. Can you imagine Katrina happening every year? During intense hurricanes, people living in these areas would be in a rush to get everything out of their houses to be taken to higher ground. Anything that could be carried, including refrigerators, TV sets, etc, are immediately taken out. One time, a cousin of mine was in such a mad rush to leave that he forgot his pregnant wife in the bedroom (he came back to get her of course). More recently, people back home have also been complaining to me about the intense heat. When I visited about a year and a half ago, I myself noticed that the temperature was much higher than when I was living there only 5 or 6 years previous.