Vietnam: Rising sea levels could affect one-fifth of HCM City by 2100

VietNamNet Bridge 16 Jun 14;

Twenty percent of the HCM City’s area could be covered with water by the end of the 21st century, when sea levels are expected to rise by one meter. And by 2050, nearly 10 percent of the city could be underwater.

Dr. Le Huy Ba, Head of the Institute for Science, Technology and the Environment Management, noted that climate change was “abnormal” this year because the city faced three big problems, high tides, prolonged heat and more rainfall.

The maximum and minimum temperatures have fluctuated more sharply this year. In previous years, it began raining in May but this year it was later. Meanwhile, it was still very hot in June this year, while there was also a high possibility of hail.

More worryingly, Ba said, the tides increased unexpectedly this year. The high tide measured at the Phu An Station on the Saigon River in early June was 1.53-1.54 meters.

While sea water levels ein Vung Tau City rose by 0.8 cm per annum, the water level at the rivers and canals in HCM City has gone up by 1.5 cm a year, causing a 50-year record-high peak in tides.

Ho Long Phi, Director of the Water Management and Climate Change Research Center, an arm of the HCM City National University, said climate change has had an obvious impact on HCM City as the average rainfall has increased by 0.7 mm. Meanwhile, the city terrain has become lower. Some places in the city are just 0.5-1 meter higher than sea water levels.

Phi said that floods caused by climate change are unavoidable, and added that the most urgent and effective measure for now is building a system of sewers to control the floods.

However, Phi said the designed system cannot bring effects because of technical problems. He believes that with the approved technical parameters, the system can show limited effects, allowing them to fight against floods no more than one time a year.

HCM City’s Mayor Le Hoang Quan said the city had been taking many measures to handle with climate change. Many projects have been approved which aim to improve sanitation conditions, reduce carbon emissions, reduce consumption of fuel and enhance afforestation or develop greenery.

The city has spent big money to improve the environment of the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe and Tau Hu-Ben Nghe canals; build three waste treatment complexes; and buy new buses that can meet new standards on emissions.

Phi suggested that it is necessary to apply both “hard” and “soft” solutions to deal with climate change. “Hard” solutions include technical measures to control high tides and build water reservoirs to regulate water levels.

Meanwhile, “soft” solutions would include designing, programming and building urban areas with green spaces to help ease greenhouse emission effects.

Scientists have forecasted that by 2050, sea water levels could rise by 30 cm, which would put 10 percent of the city’s area under water, and the average temperature in the city would increase by 1 degree C.

Chi Mai