Climate change hikes flood risks Updated : 11/21/2012 14:30 GMT
+ 7 Latest research estimates 39 percent of the Mekong Delta and
more than 20 percent of HCM City would be flooded by the end of
this century if sea levels rise by one metre. Director of the
Vietnam Institute of Meteorology Hydrology and Environment Tran
Thuc said that the latest studies on the effects of climate
change and rising sea levels also predicted the same problem
would affect more than 10 percent of the Red Delta and 2.5
percent of the central region. "The new research is more in
depth than the 2009 version, and has more detailed figures on
temperatures, rainfall and rising sea levels," Thuc said. The
scenario would affect 35 percent and 7 percent of the population
in the Mekong Delta and HCM City respectively, said Thuc, adding
that more than 4 percent of railways and 9 percent of national
highway systems would be affected. Thuc was speaking at a
conference held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment (MONRE), the UNDP and