When Philippine authorities in the province of Nueva Ecija, north of the capital Manila, built a dam in the 70s, the town of Pantabangan ended up under water.
The city, located in the middle of the water reservoir, has not faced the sun’s rays since then – until now.
Indeed, the spire of an old church has poked above the surface during periods of drought, but after a long period without rain, the entire city has now seen the light of day for the first time in over 50 years, it reports Illustrated Science.
El Niño exacerbates the drought
Since the period without rain began, the water level in the reservoir has dropped by 50 meters,
The fact that it is unusually warm in the Philippines is due, among other things, to the weather phenomenon El Niño, which has warmed the surface water in the Pacific Ocean.
The Philippines is also very vulnerable to climate change.