A study on the effects of climate change has come back with some
shocking results which could have serious consequences for Vietnam across
the board.
The study found if the sea water level rises by 1m, up to one
third of the Mekong Delta and a quarter of Ho Chi Minh City will be permanently
submerged under water.
Institute
of Meteorology, Hydrology
and Environment (IMHEN), which conducted the survey, based its findings on
warnings from international organizations that sea levels will increase by 30cm
in 2050 and a meter by 2100.
According to the study, Vietnam’s Mekong Delta will lose
5,133 km2 (approximately 12.8 percent of the area) if sea water rises 65cm;
7,580 km2 (19%) at 75cm; and 15,116 km2 (37.8%) if it rises by 100cm.
The delta, which is home to 22 percent of the country’s
population, produces half the nation’s rice output of 49 million tons a year,
60 percent of seafood, and 80 percent of fruit crops.
With rising sea levels of 65cm, 75cm, and 100cm, Ho Chi Minh
City will lose 128km2 (6%), 204km2 (10%), and 473km2 (23%) respectively.
IMHEN head Tran Thuc, said his agency will continue researching
the issue and will announce their findings in full report next year.
The report also found that the average temperature has gone up
by 0.5°C – 0.7°C in Vietnam
in the past fifty years.
Temperatures measured in 2007 in Hanoi in the north, Da
Nang in the central region and HCMC in the south
showed that in the last 10 years alone, temperatures have risen by an average
of 0.4 – 0.5°C.
