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Manila –
A 300-year-old settlement has reappeared after a reservoir in the Philippines experienced a severe drought. This is the sixth village visible in the shrinking reservoir.
Reporting from CNN, Thursday (2/5/2024) visible remains of church buildings, tombstones and city hall markers in the middle of the Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija province in March after months of almost no rain. Marlon Paladin, a supervising engineer with the Philippine National Irrigation Administration, said that the former settlement was deliberately flooded in the 1970s during the construction of the dam.
But the drought currently affecting about half of the country’s provinces has lowered dam water levels. Figures from the Philippine government’s weather agency, PAGASA, showed temperature levels on April 30 were nearly 50 meters (160 feet) lower than normal.
Paladin said this was the sixth settlement to appear since the creation of the reservoir. Currently, the 300-year-old settlement has become an impromptu tourist attraction.
The Philippines and several countries in Southeast Asia have been hit by scorching heat for the last few weeks. In fact, it was so hot that the government decided to close schools after the temperature reached 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit).
While April and May are typically the hottest months in the Philippines, with average temperatures in the mid-30s (high 80s to mid-90s Fahrenheit), most parts of the country experience even hotter temperatures.
According to PAGASA figures, in the last five days the heat index in some areas has exceeded 40 degrees (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
The town of Muñoz, which is near the dam, has experienced a heat index of more than 41 degrees (106 degrees Fahrenheit) in the past five days. On Sunday the temperature felt like 47 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) due to other contributing factors.
This year, the El Niño climate pattern has worsened conditions, according to AFP. These natural fluctuations occur at the same time as global warming caused by climate change caused by human activities.
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(sym/wsw)
