Climate change has impacted throughout Vietnam

The weather is unpredictable and complicated, but many people still indifferent that the impact of climate change is far from reaching us, Professor Dang Hung Vo warned.

Below is the content of the exchange between Mr. Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment on the impact of recent severe weather conditions, and requires more vigilance on climate change.

- Do you think that hydropower is a cause of the recent massive flooding in Central Vietnam?

- There are 2 factors that cause heavy rains, creating frequent storms in recent times. The main reason is due to climate change, while human impact is only one factor that makes flood more intense. For example, if the forest is not destroyed, the amount of water is slower. But due to the destruction of the forest, the water flowed faster and stronger. Or if good flood control conditions will limit flood water flow.

There are impacts of two factors, natural disasters and human disasters and stronger flood damage.

- In particular, how does the flood discharge from Song Hinh and Ba Ha hydropower plants affect?

Planning work in general, in particular, the current hydropower network planning is not good. When receiving and allowing investment projects, we have not seen the context in the maximum state. That is the impact of floods from nature and flood discharge from hydropower plants to protect the dam. Thus, in the state of flooding, one will increase the devastating power by two to three times.

The development of small and medium hydroelectricity is very meaningful, taking advantage of the water in places where energy problems are solved. The most important is to calculate so that there is no resonance in flood water from hydropower reservoirs simultaneously with natural floods. This resonance problem must be in the general planning problem.

Heavy rains, recent floods in North Central and South Central Vietnam are the clearest evidence. Hydropower plants of small and medium hydroelectricity discharge floods at the same time with natural flood water to create a much larger flood intensity and people suffer from their overburden.

Former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Hung Vo.

- Does Vietnam have no planning or research on flood resonance in the calculation of construction of hydropower plants?

- To set up a small and medium hydropower network planning in an area, it is necessary to set up a detailed geographic information system to accurately announce the area, then arrange hydropower plants into the system. geographic information. Given the hypothetical flood analysis problem: this lake discharges a quantity of water, the other discharges a quantity of water, how does the flood resonate. From here, it is possible to set up a hydropower plant, and when it is possible to discharge the flood.

In Vietnam, I'm sure 100% don't do this. We consider many aspects of the plan but from another perspective, such as how to use water in the flood season, whether there is any damage to the environment or not, does it cause harm to nature, biodiversity . but not from the perspective of the catastrophic flood could cause, or the issue of flood resonance has not been considered.

- So, should we abandon the construction of existing hydropower plants?

- Around the problem of hydropower the world scientists give many different opinions. Some people think it is clean, zero emissions. There are also people saying that the waste in the lake through decomposing vegetation is more harmful than thermal power, causing a large greenhouse effect, so don't say hydroelectricity is clean energy. Therefore, many high-ranking countries should not use hydroelectricity.

In Vietnam, it is necessary to look further to have a master plan, to study carefully, to consider the negative impact of hydropower on the development of the country, which areas to build hydroelectric power, which region does not, develop hydropower In parallel with sustainable, efficient hydroelectricity should be done where, considering how much hydroelectricity contributes to solving energy problems.

Many routes of Quy Nhon city are flooded. Photo: Minh Thao

- Recently, Vietnam has faced many intense fluctuations of the weather. How is this related to global climate change?

- Climate change issues, Vietnam has thought but not very deep. Many people think that CC is just sea level rise. Even being subjective, indifferent that every year the water rises by 1cm, it is far from going to 'my house'; then the forecasts until 2050 will only affect the Mekong Delta. These are the thinking flows that disregard climate change.

In fact, it is different, climate change has affected everywhere in our country. It is an increasing abnormality and intensity of floods and storms, which is the regime's change of tide, which makes HCMC water-stagnant, causing flooding. The North Central Coast has flooded, the South Central Coast flooded again. The risk of forecasting Middle Central is also being threatened by heavy rain in the coming time. Historically, the phenomenon of large and continuous flooding has rarely occurred. In the previous years, in the Central region, only one to two provinces were seriously flooded each year like Hue or Da Nang. But up to now, storms have formed many, continuously with greater devastating power throughout the Central region. The prolonged drought situation has never been in the past in the North. All are consequences of climate change.

- There are many ideas that need to change climate change scenarios in Vietnam?

That's right. The weather is going complicated, incalculable, and faster than we expected. As mentioned above, everyone thinks that the predictions will not come, but in fact, the signs of climate change are very fast and strong. I According to information from the Hydrometeorology Center, the flood has not ended completely this year but continues. At this time, Vietnam needs to take action with the world, to provide solutions to adapt to reduce the impact of climate change.

- In the long term, what do you need to do to mitigate natural disasters?

Climate change happens unexpectedly. Unusual rain, storm, and storm conditions are difficult to resist, but can only think about mitigation plans.

Specifically, to resist having to go from greenhouse gas emissions, global mobilization to industrial development but not harmful, but this requires a long time.

At the same time, people need to learn how to adapt, do the best in the range that can be done such as planning irrigational hydropower reservoirs and flooding in a uniform order so as not to make the water flow resonate with each other, not cut down, the flood will come back slower. It is necessary to have the idea of ​​preventing the highest impact of floods.

In addition, it is possible to dig reservoirs along roads to contain floods, avoid excessive flooding intensity to the population, or arrange irrigation hydropower reservoirs to store water. Another scientific method, but requires greater investment, is to build stations to announce floods, fairways, flood terrain analysis, or which roads to follow.