'mekong Delta Will Be Partly Submerged'

[Flashermac]

BY THE END of this century, 20 per cent of Vietnam's business hub "Ho Chi Minh City" will be inundated and 39 per cent of the Mekong Delta will be submerged, according to a Vietnamese study.

 

Such a prediction might not be so accurate. The study only used the map and assumed that the ocean would rise some centimetres, but could not say exactly how high.

 

However the climate change phenomenon in this century would have some severe implications for the Mekong Delta and the livelihoods of the local people.

 

The "Mekong Delta Plan: Long Term Vision and Strategy", conducted by Vietnam's Natural Resource and Environment Ministry and the Dutch government, indicates that climate is already changing the delta, which ranks among the top five in the world most likely to be severely affected by climate change, according to the report, which was released last December.

 

Despite limited precise meteorological and hydrological data, trends in temperatures, rainfall and sea levels are noticeable. Together with rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns, the sea level is expected to have a huge impact on the physical condition of the Mekong Delta, according to the report.

 

While climate change alone is harsh enough, the environmental problem in the Mekong Delta is also compounded by hydropower projects upstream. The two factors would amplify hydrological effects and changes in the delta.

 

Such changes would produce effects on people, their health, livelihoods and prosperity. In the flat area of the delta, the predicted sea level rise can result in a large area of |permanent and more frequently inundated coastal plains.

 

Rice production, in particular, would be affected through excessive flooding in the tidally inundated areas and longer flood periods in the central part of the delta.

 

Local farmers interviewed by The Nation felt the changes over the past years. The changing rainfall, temperature and flooding took a toll on their production.

 

Off-season rain - rain in the dry season, created by climate change - would destroy farming in the dry season. Chilli and onion plants would be damaged if it rains in the dry season.

 

Local people in Can Tho were concerned but did not panic as many of them said they can adjust production and crops in response to the changes. The water level in rivers obviously fluctuates every year, said orchard worker Vo Van Co.

 

"Of course we can adjust, but it is difficult for all of us to predict the level of water in each crop," he said.

 

The Vietnamese government has experience in preparing plans for socio-economic development. Authorities have conducted numerous studies to cope with the environmental changes.

 

Water governance in the Mekong Delta has improved over the years to meet the need. Projects are under implementation to prevent impacts from the changes in the rice bowl of Vietnam.

 

However, local ecologists said the country still had no vision or systematic plan. While climate changes have no administrative boundary, provincial authorities in the areas are working separately and even completing with each other.

 

They cannot address common challenges and work together. With the Mekong Delta plan, this current plan and coming plan in the future try to bring all approaches to work together, they said.

 

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/aec/Mekong-delta-will-be-partly-submerged-30239018.html

[StoneSoup]

I get frustrated with the malarky spread by "global cooling deniers". A few years ago, I saw some article about Bangkok being underwater in a few years, and I wanted to just do an "idiot test" to see if there was to really something to worry about. I knew that the Maldive Islands was the "lowest country in the world" (maximum natural elevation 2.4 meters), so I decided that if anybody would know about a real problem with sea level rise - that it would be in the Maldives.

 

So - here is what I found, as of 2011: http://myweb.wwu.edu/dbunny/pdfs/Ch7Elsevier.pdf No net sea level rise over at least 50 years, a noticeable (and measureable - albeit small) drop in sea level since the 1970's.

 

Cheers!

SS

[Specialist]

I love to hear about these "studies". They are all written by inland-dwelling landlubbers, who, never having seen an ocean or a beach in their lives, wring their hands and wail at the prospect of the oceans rising a few inches (centimeters).

 

Because they have lived inland all their lives, and never seen the oceans, they fail to understand that tides, which follow a 24-hour (roughly) cycle, are measured in feet (meters).

 

We lived in Seattle half a century ago. At that time, just about every mother in Seattle had a tide table in her purse, so she would know what time to take the children to the beach. Seattle sees 10-foot (3-meter) tides.

[waerth]

I am tired of this because there is nothing wrong with living 4 meters below sea level. I know I lived 4 meters below sea level for 19 years or so I do not see the fuss. Just take the right measures and it should not be a problem.

[Flashermac]

"I know I lived 4 meters below sea level ..."

 

On land or under water?

[waerth]

On land, it is called a polder. Kept dry since the 17th century where I used to life. Created by the all knowing Dutch!

 

Polder:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polder

 

The pumping station in the picture (near Zoetermeer) is the one currently responsible for keeping the particular polder where I used to life dry. In the past this was done by windmills.

[scoobydoo]

Cornelius Vermuyden a fine Dutchman engineered the drains and dykes to keep my little corer of england swamp free!!!

[The_Munchmaster]

I am tired of this because there is nothing wrong with living 4 meters below sea level. I know I lived 4 meters below sea level for 19 years or so I do not see the fuss. Just take the right measures and it should not be a problem.

 

Only 4m, that's nowt, I currently live 388m below sea level.

[scoobydoo]

troglodyte !!!

[baa99]

Look, the Mekong delta is under severe threat -- from all the dams being constructed on the river. That stops the silt from flowing down the river and replenishing the delta. Just look at the Nile delta for a peek into the future.

 

Prior to the building of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s, more than 120 million tonnes of silt washed down the Nile each year and accumulated in its delta. Without this annual silt flow to replenish it, the Nile Delta is shrinking – in some places the coastline is receding by as much as 175 metres a year.