Climate change could submerge the Mekong Delta

Thanhnien News (Vietnam), by Vo Van Kiet: Longer storm seasons have caused heavy human and material losses in the central region. Unprecedented severe cold snaps have hit the north. I traveled along central Vietnam to observe the aftermaths of a series of storms and floods that devastated the region last year. Natural disasters are, naturally, unstoppable.

What we can do is to reduce losses to a minimum. We can prepare ourselves to overcome their effects as soon as possible. The worst sufferers from natural disasters are usually the underprivileged, especially in rural areas because agricultural production is hit hard. We urgently need a national strategy to cope with natural disasters to ensure the country’s sustainable growth.

The northern and central regions seem to be feeling the impact of climate change. How much longer can the south, especially the Mekong Delta, keep out the threat? International scientists have forecast that the sea level may rise by up to one meter in the future. If that is true, what will happen to Vietnam, especially the low-lying Mekong Delta? The former irrigation minister, Nguyen Canh Dinh, recently showed me the results of a research study. It estimates that between 1.5 to 2 million hectares of land in the delta will be submerged if the sea level rises by one meter.

Furthermore, the coastal plains will sink by nearly a meter and many major cities, especially Ho Chi Minh City, will be flooded during high tides. That sounded like a nightmare to me, imagining that our cities could become islands in future. A submerged Mekong Delta would mean a food disaster for Vietnam since the area produces the most rice. With sea water penetrating inland through estuaries, water would become a scarce commodity.

…But climate change has obviously affected our northern and central regions. If storms and floods could one day hit the unprepared south, the consequences could be many times more severe than in the other regions. Central and local leaders and scientists must work out a long-term strategy to cope with this risk. Our scientists are capable of researching and forecasting the impacts of climate change.

We now have greater resources to invest in building dikes and irrigation systems to hold back the sea and prevent flooding. Government leaders at all levels must be aware of the utmost importance of having in place such a strategy. I have read about the dike network in the Netherlands and heard some Dutch experts talk about it. Though situated lower than sea level, this country has survived and even thrived in many areas, including agriculture.

The Mekong Delta may also be below sea level in future, so the Dutch experience will be very helpful. I have discussed this several times on the media but authorities don’t seem to pay enough attention to climate change and possibilities of new natural disaster. We are now in a much better position to prepare ourselves for the effects of climate change than in the past.

In 2005 we considered improving the irrigation infrastructure in the Mekong Delta, and put it in the area’s to-do list. But we seem to have ignored it ever since. Will climate change have to deal us heavy blows to revive our will to carry out the plan?

The Mekong Delta, seen from one of NASA's satellites, Wikimedia Commons