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MoNRE: Sea level rises up 20 cm in VN

VGP – Coping with climate change is now considered an urgent goal of Việt Nam which is confirmed to be one of five most terribly affected countries.

February 21, 2009 2:27 PM GMT+7

Việt Nam is suffering negative impacts of climate change – Illustration photo

Climate change has been causing serious impacts on Việt Nam through such dangerous phenomena as out-of-season storms, fatal floods, and severe drought.

It is estimated that, when the sea level goes up 1m, about 10% of the Vietnamese population will be affected. About 40,000 square kilometers of the country’s coastal plains will be submerged per year.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment (MoNRE), over the past five decades, in Việt Nam, the mean temperature has increased about 0.70C and the sea level risen by 20 cm.

By 2100, the sea level is expected to run 1m high and the temperature up about 3°C.

Dr. Trần Thục, Head of the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, stated that it is people’s limited understanding of climate change that is a great difficulty for realizing the national program on climate change.

So, according to many experts, people’s awareness of climate change should be raised through specific figures, pictures and examples. MoNRE is planning to launch a website on climate change to promote this work.

By Phương Hạnh