Climate change – the threat comes closer

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is considered one of the five most vulnerable countries in the world which may be the biggest sufferers in the global climate change.

Weather becoming more and more unpredictable

Under the impacts of the climate change, weather performs in a strange way, which comes contrary to the natural law. In summer, temperature goes up to 39-40oC, while in winter, the temperatures goes down to 5-7oC. Storms and floods come more regularly, which cause big damages to the infrastructure, environment, and death tolls.

According to the Institute of Hydrometeorology and Environment, the average temperature has gone up by 0.1oC, while the sea water level has risen by 2.5-3 cm over the last decade. The changes in the precipitation with more rains in the rainy season and less rains in dry season are the main that cause bigger and more regular floods, as well as more serious droughts.

The government and relevant agencies have drawn up different climate change scenarios and solutions to every scenario. However, in reality, the consequences are more serious than imagined.

The three-day rain in October 2008 alone was big enough to inundate Hanoi and neighboring provinces under water, caused 17 deaths, paralyzed the traffic and caused severe damages to agricultural production. During the three days, the rainfall in Hanoi was measured at over 500 mm, and in Ha Dong town at 800 mm.

The historical typhoon in the central region in early November 2011 not only killed a lot of people but also caused a loss of 2,200 billion dong. When the central region still had not fully recovered from the storm, a 10-day flood rushed down into five central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, killing 66 people and injured 75, and causing the toll of 2562 billion dong. Two serious typhoons have devastated the central region’s land strip several days ago. People are becoming powerless in face of the nature.

Hoang Duc Cuong, a specialist from the Institute of Hydrometeorology and Environment, believes that the increased impacts of El Nino and La Nina is one of the manifestations of the climate change. Hanoi and the provinces in the north have experienced a long period of serious hot weather which is the presence of El Nino.

But people still keep indifferent

The climate change has become more complicated because of the behaviors of people, who makes upstream deforestation indiscriminately and use too much energy to cause greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, people themselves suffer from the attacks of the natural fury.

Dr Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, has warned that in Vietnam, a lot of people have not paid much attention to the climate change impacts. They simply think that climate change just means the rise of the sea water level. They believe that if the sea water level rises by only 1 cm a year, Vietnam would only have to think of the measures to deal with the climate change after many years.

Vo has also pointed out that Vietnamese people have become subjective when hearing the predictions that the sea water level rise would only affect the Red River Delta in the north and Mekong Delta in the south by 2050.

In fact, the climate change has brought about big consequences to Vietnam. The climate change can be seen in the absurdity and the higher intensity of floods and storms, in the changes in the tide regime which causes floods to HCM City.

Right after the floods had left the north of the central region, another flood rushed down to the south of the region. Big floods never came so regularly in the past. In general, only one or two provinces in the central region suffered from heavy floods, such as Hue or Da Nang. However, things are quite different now: consecutive typhoons came within a short time, causing big devastation to the central region.