Drought, saline intrusion threatens the Mekong basin

Climate change and rising sea levels have seriously affected the Mekong basin and threaten the lives of 65 million people living in this area.

That is the warning of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on the sidelines of the UN climate change conference in Bangkok on October 5-10.

According to WWF, floods and droughts will be fierce, coastal areas are eroded, sea level rise and many hot waves occur in the coming decades will affect rice, fruit and coffee production. and fisheries which are the main livelihoods of more than 65 million people in the Mekong delta. These phenomena put this area at risk of food security.

Tieu Loan Dam is under construction in the upper reaches of the Mekong River - Photo: www.gzbgj.com/

The WWF report also stated that the temperature in the entire region has increased by 0.5-1.5OC over the past 50 years, more frequent droughts and floods.

Referring to Vietnam, it is reported that sea level rise and saline intrusion will gradually reduce cultivated land, reducing rice production and aquaculture in the Mekong Delta region, where export half of Vietnam's rice production and 60% of shrimp production.

Especially for big cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi of Vietnam and Bangkok of Thailand, WWF warned that 'a large number of inhabitants are living in coastal lowlands and plains near the estuary. threatened by floods, saline intrusion and rising sea levels'.

The plains in the world are sinking, placing more than 500 million people at risk of food security. According to scientists, the main cause of the phenomenon is not only due to nature but also human impact in the past 50 years. The construction of dams on the upper reaches of the big rivers has caused the flow to drift and deplete the natural alluvial deposits of large rivers.

For countries in the Mekong Basin, like the recently reported The Straits Times, the Tieu Loan hydroelectric dam is upstream of China once completed in 2012, becoming the largest dam on the Mekong, is also the tallest in the world with a height of 292m.

Its reservoir will hold up to 15 billion cubic meters of water and it takes 5-10 years to fill up with water. When filled with water, it will cover an area of ​​190 km2, and will deplete the water resources of the lower Mekong countries.