Environment and natural resources
Climate change
Mekong Delta parched in aftermath of 2019 El Nino
Parched fields, cracked earth and dry water channels are nothing unusual in the Mekong Delta, which is facing yet another drought this year. Hai Phuong wakes up at 4:30 a.m. every day and makes his way to the field. The 45-year-old in Tran Hoi Commune, Tran Van ...
Hoang Hanh, Cuu Long, Hoang Nam
Mekong Delta takes measures to reduce saltwater intrusion
Though saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta was predicted to come earlier and with higher level of salinity than that recorded in the 2015-2016 dry season, the damages to farming areas are expected to be less serious as authorities and farmers have taken measures to ...
Government of Viet Nam
Mekong Delta's biggest reservoir contaminated by saltwater intrusion
Seawater has intruded into the Mekong Delta’s largest reservoir, Kenh Lap in Ben Tre Province. A local man tested water from it and using a salinity meter on Monday and got a reading of 1.45 parts per thousand (ppt). Fresh water has a salinity of 0.5 ppt ...
Hoang Nam
New $212m financing for climate-friendly projects in Vietnam
A new financing package of $212.5 million (£162m) has been announced to support climate-friendly projects in Vietnam. The funding from IFC, a member of the World Bank, will enable VPBank to expand its lending to small and medium businesses and boost financing for projects that help reduce carbon ...
Priyanka Shrestha
Sinking predicted for Mekong Delta region
The Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, an area that helps feed about 200 million people, is predicted to sink underwater by 2100. In the past 25 years, Mekong Delta and the communities, cities and rice fields that depend on it, have faced grave risks of higher ...
Mekong Delta takes measures to cope with saltwater intrusion
Saltwater intrusion has occurred on a large scale in the Mekong Delta, forcing local authorities to take measures to protect agricultural production and ensure water supply for household use, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Saltwater intrusion has affected many provinces like Tiền ...
‘No fish’: How dams and climate change are choking Asia’s great lake
For more than half a century, January meant prime fishing season for Pang Bin. He took his wooden boat out into Cambodia’s largest lake, his catches and their sales sustaining his family for much of the year. This month, the 75-year-old decided to call it quits, ...
Shashank Bangali
Haze Chokes the Administration
The Capital is sick, being choked with PM 2.5, the fine dust composed of various cardiovascular and respiratory carrier toxins. Since early this week, the dust particles with the diameter less than 2.5 microns or “PM 2.5” have started to surge in the city, and the ...
Green algae, blue water add to fears over health of Southeast Asia's Mekong
When the normally murky brown Mekong River turned a brilliant blue late last year, villagers in northeastern Thailand were surprised. Then, this week, unusually large patches of green algae appeared, clogging up nets and making it almost impossible to fish. Both the Mekong’s strange colour and the ...
Panu Wongcha-um and Kay Johnson
High water mark
There is little wonder why ancient humans gave prophetic qualities to the animal kingdom. Long before the days of computerised climate models and long term weather forecasting, animals were the nearest thing they had to an early warning system of seasonal arrivals, impending disasters, and ...