Actively respond to climate change

(Baonghean) - According to forecasts, Nghe An is one of the localities located in the special region heavily affected by climate change (CC) and rising sea levels. These are challenges that require action from all levels, sectors and each person to ensure sustainable development and stable life. That is also the message launched by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on the occasion of World Meteorological Day 2015 with the theme "Climate - Awareness and Action".

The weather is getting more extreme

Climate change is an extreme change in the weather. The most obvious manifestations of climate change are global warming, rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion deep into the mainland, and unusual heat, storms, and natural disasters. In recent years, these extreme weather phenomena have continuously appeared, directly affecting humans and other life in the environment.

In Nghi Tien commune - a coastal commune of Nghi Loc district with 6.3 km of coastline, according to many elderly people in the commune, in recent years the sea level has risen higher than before, especially during high tides or storms. This is threatening production and people's lives. In particular, the phenomenon of saltwater intrusion is becoming more and more obvious.

The salt-prevention dyke running through the coastal communes of Dien Bich, Dien Van, and Dien Ngoc of Dien Chau district has been invested in and built to cope with rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion.

Mr. Tran Cong Oanh, Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: Because Nghi Tien commune is located at the end of the freshwater source and the beginning of the saltwater source, when the summer-autumn crop season begins, the water level on the Cam River drops, causing saltwater from the sea to encroach with a salinity concentration exceeding the allowable level, making production impossible. Of the total 230 hectares of cultivated area of ​​the commune, 150 hectares are affected by saltwater intrusion, some years it can be produced, some years it cannot be produced, of which 40 hectares are precarious for aquaculture.

In Nghi Tien commune, climate change not only affects agricultural production but also affects those who work at sea. Mr. Luu Dinh Tuan, hamlet 2, shared: "There are no conditions for offshore fishing, so we only fish near the shore, but in recent years, the amount of seafood near the shore has also decreased, causing many difficulties for fishermen like us in life." Explaining the reason for this, according to scientists, is that the increase in seawater temperature has damaged the marine ecosystem, and coral reefs, which are the habitat of many marine species, have degraded.

The situation of saltwater intrusion deep into the mainland not only occurs in Nghi Tien commune but also, according to Mr. Nguyen Duc Tho, Head of the District Agriculture Department, occurs in most of the communes located along the coast of Nghi Loc such as Nghi Quang, Nghi Yen, Nghi Thiet, Phuc Tho. In these communes, due to high salinity levels in the fields, there are areas of agricultural land for unstable production, especially in the summer-autumn crop which are abandoned, including Nghi Quang 80 hectares, Nghi Thiet 70 hectares, Nghi Yen 50.

Through research on localities along the 82 km coastline of Nghe An, the phenomenon of saltwater intrusion has been and is occurring in some communes of Quynh Luong, Son Hai, Quynh Nghia, Tien Thuy, Quynh Thuan, Quynh Long (Quynh Luu district); communes of Dien Thanh, Dien Trung, Dien Hung, Dien Kim, Dien Bich, Dien Hai (Dien Chau district). The saltwater intrusion situation is not only increasing in coastal localities but according to the records of Nghe An Irrigation Department, in 2010, on Cam River, saltwater intrusion, also known as salt wedge, has extended to nearly Nghi Van commune (Nghi Loc). Also in 2010, on Lam River, the salt wedge situation extended to Hung Xuan commune (Hung Nguyen).

While coastal areas have clearly shown signs of rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion, in the western region of Nghe An, the warming of the weather and the longer hot weather are felt. At times in the districts of Quy Chau, Tuong Duong, and Thai Hoa, the temperature has reached 40 - 43 degrees Celsius. Also in this region, there have been severe cold spells and many unusual rains and floods, causing flash floods.

Mr. Tang Van An, Head of the Forecast Department, North Central Hydrometeorological Station, said: Through monitoring the weather changes in the past 10-year cycle in the North Central region in general and Nghe An in particular, it shows that extreme weather phenomena occur more often. Although the number of storms occurring during the year has not changed, the storm intensity is much greater, including super storms. The rain does not last long but the intensity is greater. If in the past the rain reached about 300mm for 2-3 days, recently in just 3 hours the rainfall has reached 300mm. This leads to flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas. There is also an increase in the number of hot days, reflecting the trend of increasing weather temperatures, causing droughts and shortages of fresh water for production and people's daily life on a large scale in almost all localities in the province...

Need to raise awareness of environmental protection, overcome the situation of littering

Proactive response solutions

Climate change is threatening life, which requires us to take action to adapt and proactively respond effectively. Based on the Action Plan to respond to Climate Change of Nghe An province, period 2011 - 2015, taking into account 2020 approved by the Provincial People's Committee under Decision No. 1395/QD-UBND.DC dated April 27, 2011, recently, sectors and levels in the province have proactively developed plans to integrate climate change response into their programs and plans for implementation. Priority activities are focused on repairing and upgrading the system of river dykes, sea dykes, dams, sluices to prevent salinity, retain fresh water...

According to Mr. Nguyen Truong Thanh, Deputy Head of the Provincial Irrigation Sub-Department, Nghe An is the first province in the country to issue a program to ensure reservoir safety, including statistics and assessments of the dam situation, and a roadmap for upgrading and repairing to serve production and people's lives. From 2012 to 2014, the Agriculture sector has implemented maintenance and repair of 224 dam projects with a total cost of nearly 90 billion VND. Along with that, the canal consolidation program continues to be promoted; a number of programs to prevent salinity and retain fresh water have been implemented on the Cam River and are completing procedures to implement on the Lam River, ensuring water storage for production and people's lives, limiting saltwater intrusion deep inland.

In recent times, the agricultural sector and localities have also proactively changed the structure of crops and livestock according to the season, researched and developed, and applied new technologies in agriculture. Due to changes in the weather, it is necessary to change the season and crop structure to adapt. In recent years, due to low rainfall and harsh sunlight, many areas of sesame and summer-autumn vegetables have now been converted to corn and beans of all kinds. Summer-autumn rice has also decreased in area and increased in the winter crop; at the same time, early winter crops have been organized and short-term crops have been planted to avoid floods. Also related to the agricultural sector, afforestation has been promoted, including mangrove forests. In the past 5 years, on average, our province has planted 15,000 hectares of new forest each year, contributing to raising the forest cover of the province to 54.6% by the end of 2014.

Thanh Chuong planted squash on two-rice land to overcome drought.

In the industrial sector, the province is promoting the implementation of the national target program on economical and efficient energy use to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Mr. Hoang Van Dien, Deputy Director of Nghe An Industrial Promotion and Development Consulting Center, the implementation of the program on energy saving of the Government and the Provincial People's Committee; propaganda work associated with the implementation of many models of energy saving in households, agencies, units, schools and enterprises have been paid attention to by all levels, sectors and localities. Thanks to that, the awareness of people, agencies, units and enterprises on energy saving and efficiency has been increasingly raised.

In the electricity sector alone, according to the report of Nghe An Electricity Company, in 2014 the whole province saved more than 42 million kWh of electricity, reaching 103% compared to the plan assigned by the Northern Electricity Corporation. In parallel, national target programs on environmental remediation and improvement, national target programs on climate change adaptation, action plans to improve the efficiency of management, protection, comprehensive use of natural resources and environment in a sustainable direction, and prevention and mitigation of natural disasters were also implemented by all levels and sectors.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Vo, Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, affirmed: The Party and State's policies and guidelines on climate change response have been gradually concretized into policies and guidelines in the province, becoming tasks and targets in the leadership and direction of Party committees, authorities, departments, branches, unions, and socio-political organizations. Community awareness of climate change is increasingly raised, investment in climate change response is gradually improved; climate change factors are gradually integrated into strategies, planning, and plans of sectors and levels.

However, there are still limitations in investment resources for climate change, which are limited and do not meet requirements. Policies on climate change response are basically appropriate and adequate, but the implementation process is still confusing because this is a new issue, deeply affecting all areas of socio-economic life, while awareness of climate change among sectors, levels and people is still limited. The work of proactively responding to climate change in the community is not high. Actions to prevent climate change are both immediate and long-term, complex and related to all sectors, levels and each person. Therefore, all levels, sectors, localities and each person need to continue to implement solutions and plans with specific and practical actions to improve capacity and ability to respond to climate change, contributing to preventing and mitigating natural disasters, ensuring sustainable development and protecting people's lives.

Minh Chi