Days to the New Year revelry, GMA Regional TV Balitang Bisdak looks back at its warm and sizzling stories produced in 2024. 

The El Niño phenomenon affected severely the Central and Eastern Visayas regions in 2024.

In the reports of GMA Regional TV Balitang Bisdak, about four consecutive months of extreme hot weather depleted water sources. 

The extreme heat left Buhisan Dam dried up, one of major sources for surface water in Metro Cebu. 

Water shortage hounded residents who depended more everyday on rationed water. 

As temperatures rose, with a record-breaking 55-degree Celsius (ºC) recorded in Guiuan town, Eastern Samar, several schools in Central and Eastern Visayas cancelled in-person classes and shifted to modular and blended learning modes.

According to state weather bureau PAGASA, the highest heat index recorded in Guiuan, Eastern Samar at 55ºC on May 26, 2024 surpassed that of Iba, Zambales's record of 53ºC on April 28, 2024.

To recall, the United Nations has warned the public of “global boiling."

“The era of global warming has ended, the era of global boiling has arrived,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in July 2023.

Agriculture sector suffered severely, plenty of Local Government Units in Central and Eastern Visayas declared a state of calamity.

One of these was the Province of Bohol.

The absence of rainfall in about four successive months raised the high risk of fire occurrences. 

Firefighters experienced what it was like to be responding to fire incidents and grassfires that occurred often. One of these big grassfires was recorded in Carmen town, Bohol right on the Chocolate Hills complex, the tourism signature of the province.

The extreme heat also saw the frequent sighting of the Philippine king cobra in various parts of the Province of Cebu which was previously uncommon.

The presence of the Philippine king cobra, referred to in the vernacular as “banakon,” killed two farmers in Dalaguete town, southern Cebu. The farmers were reported to have died separately from the bite of a king cobra.

A three-year-old girl in Catarman town, Northern Samar also died reportedly from the bite of the venomous king cobra.

In addition, a band of over 30 monkeys was spotted to have gone out of their dwelling place near a construction site in upland Cebu City hunting for food.

Further, the warm and dry season also affected temperatures of seawater.

It was believed that the beaching of a variety of fish was due to rising seawater temperatures.

However, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR 7) pointed out that the beaching was due to the off-season implemented by the agency for around three months to regulate commercial fishing and repopulate fish species.

Effects of the extreme hot weather posed once more the challenges in disaster preparedness and resilience, man's shared responsibility in environmental stewardship, among others. 

Nature has spoken warmly on how man and society have been taking care of natural resources.