Conversations on Vietnam Development
March 16, 2018
Source:European Commission Joint Research Centre
Summary:Scientists find that global warming has allowed disease-bearing insects to proliferate, increasing exposure to viral infections.
Spurred on by climate change, international travel and international trade, disease-bearing insects are spreading to ever-wider parts of the world.
This means that more humans are exposed to viral infections such as Dengue fever, Chikungunya, Zika, West Nile fever, Yellow fever and Tick-borne encephalitis.
For many of these diseases, there are as yet no specific antiviral agents or vaccines.
Global warming has allowed mosquitoes, ticks and other disease-bearing insects to proliferate, adapt to different seasons, migrate and spread to new niche areas that have become warmer.
Tiếp tục đọc “Climate change promotes the spread of mosquito and tick-borne viruses”
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Gần 1.000 km đường sông nội bộ bị lãng phí
Nhiều cầu trên sông Sài Gòn có tĩnh không thấp gây khó khăn cho tàu trọng tải lớn – ẢNH: ĐÀO NGỌC THẠCH Tiếp tục đọc “Gần 1.000 km đường sông nội bộ bị lãng phí – 3 kỳ”
Viet Nam is struggling to find solutions, especially ‘green’ solutions to address challenges in water resources management with environmental damage, climate change and unsustainable water exploitation driving the water-related crisis.
Natural Resources and Environment Deputy Minister, Trần Quý Kiên, gives a speech at the workshop on water resources management in Hà Nội on Friday.
The statement was made at a workshop themed ‘Green solutions for water resources’ held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment yesterday in Hà Nội.
Deputy Minister Trần Quý Kiên said the negative impacts of climate change and unreasonable exploitation of water resources seriously affected water resources. Tiếp tục đọc “VN struggling to protect water resources”
Thousands of households in central Quang Nam Province have been thirsting for clean water for years as most of the wells are seriously contaminated with aluminum and few water supply works have been built to solve the problem.
A resident’s filter tank central Quảng Nam Province’s Đại Minh Commune is full of dirt and smells due to alum contaminated water. – Photo baoquangnam.vn
Even when a water supply centre was built and put into operation, it only supplied a small number of households and provided an unstable water source.
In Đại Lộc District’s Đại Minh Commune, as many as 115 households have been living with seriously aluminum-contaminated water for years. Tiếp tục đọc “Quang Nam residents desperate for non-contaminated water”
More than two billion people are compelled to drink unsafe water and more than 4.5 billion people do not have safely managed sanitation services, according to a report of the High-Level Panel on Water (HLPW).
The HLPW handed over the outcome of the report on Thursday to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Senior Representative of the World Bank President at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA. Tiếp tục đọc “40 percent of world’s people affected by water scarcity”
Vietnam is one of 10 countries most affected by climate change, according to the latest annual Climate Risk Index published by the research organization Germanwatch.
Coastal residents are particularly vulnerable as storms increase in frequency and intensity. They are often trapped in poverty, accumulating debt or spending savings to rebuild or repair their homes, businesses and possessions.
Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam and U.N. to build storm-proof housing for coastal communities”
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| The U Minh Hạ National Park in Cà Mau Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Huỳnh Thế Anh |
In the southernmost province of Cà Mau, many measures have been put in place, especially to protect the 8,500ha U Minh Hạ National Park. Tiếp tục đọc “Delta braces for forest fires”
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| Agricultural officials construct a temporary dam to prevent salt intrusion in the Mekong Delta province of Hậu Giang. — VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khương |
Trần Bình Trọng, head of the Kiên Lương District Infrastructure Economy Bureau in Kiên Giang Province, said the district has built a dam on Canal 6 to prevent saltwater intrusion. Tiếp tục đọc “Mekong Delta braces for salt intrusion”
Chưa phát huy được lợi thế
Thời gian qua, mạng giao thông thủy nội địa ở khu vực ĐBSCL được hình thành trên cơ sở các sông tự nhiên thuộc hệ thống sông Đồng Nai, Cửu Long và các kênh rạch ngang. Hiện có hơn 13.000km sử dụng được cho vận tải, trong đó khoảng 7.000km được đưa vào cấp quản lý. Các tuyến chính gồm 4 trục dọc nối Đông-Tây Nam bộ, 3 trục ngang và các tuyến tránh. Toàn vùng có gần 230.000 phương tiện thủy nội địa được đăng ký, chủng loại phong phú… Hàng hóa được vận tải bằng đường thủy vẫn là chủ yếu. Hàng năm, lượng hàng hóa vận chuyển phương tiện thủy nội địa qua khu vực ĐBSCL đạt 51,5 triệu tấn, chiếm 30% cả nước; chủ yếu là lúa gạo, phân bón, vật liệu xây dựng, mía đường…
Tiếp tục đọc “Đồng bằng sông Cửu Long: Làm sao phát triển giao thông thủy?”
The Mekong River has provided a means of transportation for thousands of years. Recent efforts have focused on improving the commercial navigability of the water course, led to a large extent by China in the river’s upper reaches, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the lower Mekong. The ADB-backed Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program, the China-Thai FTA and the proposed ASEAN-China FTA are all major factors contributing to efforts aimed at increasing navigability. Modern transportation infrastructure is essential for economic growth, yet incredibly precarious if hastily implemented. Tiếp tục đọc “Commercial Transportation on the Mekong River”
For hundreds of years, the Mekong River has been a vital passageway for people and goods. Today, the Mekong is still an essential means of transportation for many of the people living in the region and plays an increasingly important role in international trade and tourism. For example in Viet Nam, roughly 73% of cargo tonnage and about 27% of passengers travel by water annually.
Within the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB), the Mekong River and its major tributaries are navigable during the high-water season (about eight months of the year), with the exception of a 14-km section just north of the border between Cambodia and the Lao PDR – the impassable Khone Falls.
The river in the fast lane
North of the Khone Falls, narrow and turbulent sections of the river as well as large annual water level variations present a challenge to the development of trade and transportation. Despite these difficulties, the river provides an important link between China and lower Mekong countries. Port infrastructure is being expanded to accommodate expected growth, with new facilities planned for the Chiang Saen port, located in the “Golden Triangle” where the borders of Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam converge. Tiếp tục đọc “Mekong River Transport”
Lần đầu tiên lãnh đạo các tỉnh, thành trong khu vực tiểu vùng Tứ giác Long Xuyên tập trung bàn về kế hoạch liên kết vùng để ứng phó với tình hình biến đổi khí hậu, thủy điện làm cạn nguồn nước, khai thác quá mức tài nguyên đất…
Trong 2 ngày 16 và 17-5 tại TP Long Xuyên, UBND tỉnh An Giang phối hợp với Liên minh Bảo tồn Thiên nhiên quốc tế (IUCN) đã tổ chức hội thảo “Liên kết tiểu vùng Tứ giác Long Xuyên – thách thức và tầm nhìn”.
Sống chung với hạn, mặn
Theo các chuyên gia nông nghiệp, tiểu vùng Tứ giác Long Xuyên đang trở thành vựa lúa lớn nhất cả nước, có điều kiện tự nhiên thuận lợi hơn các tiểu vùng khác ở ĐBSCL để phát triển thủy sản, chăn nuôi, trồng trọt. Tiếp tục đọc “Tìm cách “cứu” Tứ giác Long Xuyên”
04 March 2018 Aalto University
Greenhouse gas emissions of hydropower in the Mekong River Basin can exceed those of fossil fuel energy sources
Hydropower is commonly considered as a clean energy source to fuel Southeast Asian economic growth. Recent study published in Environmental Research Letters finds that hydropower in the Mekong River Basin, largest river in Southeast Asia, might not always be climate friendly. The median greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of hydropower was estimated to be 26 kg CO2e/MWh over 100-year lifetime, which is within the range of other renewable energy sources (<190 kg CO2e/MWh). The variation between the individual hydropower projects was, however, large: nearly 20% of the hydropower reservoirs had higher emissions than other renewable energy sources and in several cases the emissions equalled those from fossil fuel energy sources (>380 kg CO2e/MWh). The study concludes that hydropower in the Mekong cannot be considered categorically as a clean energy source; instead, the emissions should be evaluated case-by-case together with other social and environmental impacts. Tiếp tục đọc “Greenhouse gas emissions of hydropower in the Mekong River Basin can exceed those of fossil fuel energy sources”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Michael R. Bloomberg of the United States as his Special Envoy for Climate Action.
Mr. Bloomberg will support the Secretary-General’s climate strategy and efforts towards the planned 2019 Climate Summit at United Nations Headquarters. The Summit will mobilize stronger and more ambitious action towards 2020 climate targets. The Special Envoy will leverage efforts in key areas of the Summit to encourage rapid and enhanced implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change in the context of sustainable development.
Tiếp tục đọc “Secretary-General Appoints Michael R. Bloomberg of United States Special Envoy for Climate Action”
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