Water Resources Ministry issues Mekong flood warning
Water Resources and Meteorology Minister Lim Kean Hor has ordered all provincial department directors to be prepared for Mekong river floods as water from the river has started to overflow. Ya Voeun, Tboung Khmum provincial water department director, yesterday said that the water level of the ...
Mom Kunthear
Something Is Very Wrong on the Mekong River
The Mekong is reeling from the combined onslaught of climate change, sand-mining, and incessant damming of the river, which combined to help cause the worst drought recorded in over 100 years in July. “This is the worst ecological disaster in history of the of Mekong region,” declared Thai ...
Tom Fawthrop
River of no return: Mekong faces grim future
The Mekong River is again striking record lows, threatening crop production, fish stocks and the livelihoods of 70 million people amid rampant over-development and dire warnings. But this year’s drought, the second in three years, could mark a turning point and a bleak future.Scientists, backed ...
Luke Hunt
UN Warns Mekong River Is A Disaster Hotspot
The Mekong River basin was identified as a major disaster risk hotspot by the United Nations today. Poor people living close to the river suffer high exposure to flood and drought, according to a report released today. A UN official also called for the nations in ...
Mekong River Strikes Another Record Low
In recent weeks, the Mekong River, one of the world’s longest and largest rivers, which has been under peril due to a confluence of development, demographic, and geopolitical pressures, has been at its lowest levels in a century. Dams upstream are holding back much needed water ...
Luke Hunt
A dam-building race threatens the Mekong River
The Mekong River, a critical waterway for six countries in Southeast Asia, is registering critically low water levels this summer. The Mekong River Commission (MRC), which monitors Southeast Asia’s longest river, reported in mid-July that water levels over the previous month had fallen to “among the lowest ...
Earth’s largest freshwater creatures at risk of extinction
Some have survived for hundreds of millions of years, but many of the world’s freshwater megafauna—including sumo-sized stingrays, colossal catfish, giant turtles, and gargantuan salamanders—may soon find themselves on the brink of extinction, according to a new study published. For the first time, researchers have quantified the ...
Stefan Lovgren
Opinion: Mekong Region Needs to Overcome Drought Together
Drought, follows flood and storm, is among the most influential natural disasters in the world. According to 2018 publication on the International Disaster Database website, 16% of people affected by disasters in 2018 were affected by droughts. Over the past few decades, countries along the Lancang-Mekong ...
Dr. Liu Hui
China’s Push to Control the Mekong River a “Troubling Trend”
The United States has expressed concern over Chinese dam building, dredging and other activities on the Mekong River in Southeast Asia, calling them “troubling trends.” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with ministers from lower Mekong River countries, including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The foreign ministers of ...
Damming the Mekong to environmental hell
Major dam construction projects have become a favourite pastime of some autocratic governments, with China leading the way. But, far from protecting against water shortages, as supporters promise, large dams are contributing to river depletion and severely exacerbating parched conditions. Nowhere is this more apparent ...
Brahma Chellaney