Table 2 shows the number of tropical cyclones that crossed or traversed the archipelago during El Nino and La Nina years. It can be gleaned that there is a slight increase in the number of tropical cyclones that traversed the country during La Nina in the period from October to March of the following year. While all other periods of the year showed a decrease in the number of tropical cyclones that crossed the archipelago. However, during the time of El Nino, there is a significant decrease on the number of tropical cyclones that crossed the country in all the periods during the year. At this point, it would be worthwhile to mention that a little more than fifty percent (50%) of the average annual rainfall of the Philippines are due to the effect of tropical cyclones.
V. Remarks and Recommendations
In this present times, the utilization of high capacity computers and the establishment of the cyberspace, it is a must that we should apply modern technology to our oceans. It is a fact that modern technology is the most powerful force for translating potentials into reality and for the satisfying the ever-growing basic needs. Thus, it is necessary to collaborate our efforts for the acquisition of scientific knowledge in order to have a better understanding of our oceans and the relationships between the bodies of water that surround us and human activity. As a starter, it is necessary for us to acquire more and sufficient oceanographic data to be utilized in researches and studies that would lead to the development of scientific information and technologies regarding our oceans. Specifically, the study on climate change and global warming needs understanding on the behavior of oceans since the climatology and the state of meteorological conditions of a place are affected by the behavior of the oceans directly or by teleconnections. Furthermore, the enhancement of oceanographic data observations must be undertaken jointly and globally.
The most appropriate way of observing the behavior of the ocean is the deployment of ocean data buoys strategically over the ocean. In terms of data collection, these buoys should have measuring instruments, among others, for sea surface temperature, ocean current, CTD, etc. This is the main activity of ARGO (Global Array of Profiling Floats). ARGO calls for the deployment of 3,000 data buoys over the oceans of the globe
In this connection, it is strongly recommended, therefore, that the programme on ARGO must be implemented and continuously done for the sake of monitoring and observing oceanographic parameters.
