Longer heat waves and strong storms are forecast to hit Vietnam in
coming years, with long summer monsoon in the northern region to
decrease, heard this year’s third National Forum on Disaster Risk
Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation held in Hanoi on October 10.
The director of the Vietnam Institute of Meteorology,
Hydrology and Environment, Tran Thuc, said the number of hot days each
year will hit 45 until 2050, with the current number at 34.
It may even reach 60-95 days per year by 2100, Thuc said, adding that
hot days were typically those with a daily temperature higher than 35
degrees Celsius.
Thuc said both the duration and
frequency of heat waves would rise across the entire country by 2100,
particularly in the Central Highland and southern regions.
In the meantime, the number of severe storms with wind speeds between
103-133km per hour would also increase, he said, adding that the
duration of the summer monsoon would shorten by 10 to 21 days in the
north-central region.
“The first summer monsoon will
come to northern provinces about 12 days later by 2100 than presently.
It might also fall in the middle of June,” he said.
For their part, authorities have sprung into action to mitigate higher
natural disaster risks and implement measures to adapt to climate
change.
Deputy head of the Science, Technology and
Environment Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development Dinh Vu Thanh said methods to conserve water and energy had
been applied to farming and livestock rearing since 2011, including
irrigation, biogas and watershed mechanisms in the local community.
The ministry’s General Department of Water Resources has so far
provided training courses for nearly 1,000 province-level teachers on
natural disaster risks in all the 63 provinces and cities following
public awareness and risk management project approved by Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung in 2009.
An additional 100
district-level teachers would also be trained in 2014, said Nguyen Huu
Phuc, from the water resources department. Knowledge of natural disaster
risks would also make its way into the school curriculum in future, he
added.
Vietnam has gradually increased its efforts
to mitigate the risk of natural disasters since the development of the
National Strategy on Natural Disaster Prevention, Response and
Mitigation four years ago, said Deputy chief of the Central Committee
for Flood and Storm Control, Van Phu Chinh, on October 10.
The number of people killed by natural disasters has been reduced by
nearly 8 percent (approximately 162 persons) between 2008-2012, he said.
Meanwhile, financial support for reducing natural
disasters has nearly doubled, reaching around 286 trillion VND (13.4
million USD), Chinh said.
Forest regeneration has also increased to nearly 40 percent, up from 37.5 percent in 2006, he said.
In the past four years, around 1,000 flood-proof residential clusters
had been built to protect 165,000 households in central regions and the
Mekong Delta, he added.
“The 13th National Assembly
approving the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention, was an important
milestone which will take effect in May 2014.”
However, participants at the meeting said Vietnam still faced many
challenges in completely reducing the risks of natural disasters and
adapting to climate change – a critical element being to raise public
awareness.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime
Minister Hoang Trung Hai urged for greater protection from climate
change by enhancing forecasting activities. He added that raising public
awareness of natural disasters would make it easier to address the
risks of natural disasters in Vietnam.-VNA