Documente Academic
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Documente Cultură
Vietnam
Introduction
Vietnam, also known as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, rests along the
countries: Cambodia to the southwest, China to the north, and Laos to the northwest. It
also shares maritime borders with Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The
climate in Vietnam can be divided into a temperate and tropical zone and the
topography of the country is very diverse. Considering the country is located within the
tropics and is directly west of the South China sea, its tropical climate is strongly
influenced by monsoons. In the Northern Section, of the S-shaped country, there are
four distinct seasons. The climate in the northern section is considered a very
subtropical climate and has seen much colder temperatures than that in the southern
section. The winters can get very cold and sometimes, although very rarely, can see
snowfall and frost in the most northern mountainous regions. The lowest recorded
temperature in Vietnam, was found in the capital, Hanoi. Temperatures in 1955 dropped
down to 37℉ (Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism, n.d.). The North sees an
average temperature, during the warmer seasons, of 84℉ (29℃) and an average of 63℉
(17℃) during the cooler and more dry seasons (HolidayWeather.com, n.d.). In the
mountainous regions the average annual rainfall can sometimes exceed 406 cm, while
the non-mountainous regions in the north see an average annual rainfall of 172 cm
there are essentially two distinguishable seasons. A very rainy season and a very dry
season. The colder season occurs from November to April and the hotter season from
May to October. The south is more tropical and sees annual average temperatures vary
between 64℉ and 91℉. Although in the highland areas, temperatures can be a bit cooler,
dropping down to 63℉ during the dryer season and 68℉ in the warmer/rainy season. The
rainy season in this section of Vietnam runs from the early part of October into the
month of December and sees an average rainfall of 200 cm. Nearly half of the annual
rainfall for the entire country happens during the months of October and November
The entire country of vietnam covers approximately 127,881 square miles with
approximately 92.6 million citizens inhabiting it. Currently it stands at 15th in the world
and 9th in asian countries, in regards to population size. Ho Chi Minh is the most
populous city in the country and currently has approximately 13 million inhabitants. The
cities population is increasing much faster than expected. According to the Chairman of
the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh, the population projection for 2025 was 13
The government of Vietnam is a one party system led by the Communist Party of
Vietnam (CPV). There are three leaders who possess the power in this country. The
first is the current acting president is Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, who is the first female head
of state of the republic of Vietnam. Second, is the Secretary General of the Communist
Party, Nguyen Phu Trong. He is said to hold the, “True” power in the country. The third
leader is the Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Vietnam has one of south-east Asia’s
fastest growing economies and expects to be included in the list of developing countries
by 2020.
Recent Changes/Impacts
Compared to other developed countries like the United States, there is very little
data on the many aspects of the changing climate in Vietnam. However, data does exist
that suggests that there has been an increase in extreme precipitation during storms
across south-eastern Asian countries. Most of the data that we have for the changing
climate in Vietnam, only dates back to a little more than 50 years ago. According to the
central region, the annual rainfall in both the dry and wet seasons has increased by up
to 20% in the last 50 years. The figure below shows the change in precipitation (%)
As previously mentioned there hasn't been a whole lot of data recorded for climate change in
Vietnam, aside from rainfall. When looking at the change in annual average rainfalls for roughly
the last 100 years, the averages are not consistent with each other. There are certain times
throughout the 100 years where we see ascending and descending periods. And despite the
increase in rainfall in the southern region of the country, in total we are seeing a decrease of
about 2% of average rainfall for the past 50 years (NTP, MONRE, 2008).
The Hon Dau oceanographical station has tidal gauges placed along the coast of
Vietnam since the early 1990’s. According to these gauges sea level rise has continued at a
rate of 2.8 - 3mm/year, which is comparable with the global tendency. The coastal zones in the
central and southwest regions has seen the strongest sea level rise, at about 2.9mm/year. In
total, over the last 50 years, the sea level has risen roughly 20 cm at this same oceanographical
vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Each issue we see is almost a fundamental,
textbook example of the effects we would see in a warming climate. Scientists, are very
confident in the fact that these impacts can be attributed to climate change.
Out of all the countries that exist on this planet, Vietnam sits in the top five for
countries who are the most vulnerable to climate change. Most specifically, its
vulnerability to rising sea levels, considering Vietnam has nearly 2,000 miles of
coastline. Mike Hoffman, professor of entomology and executive director of the Cornell
Institute for Climate Change and Agriculture, has stated, “Vietnam is in the bull’s eye
According to the DMHCC, a sea level rise of 1 meter would cause 11% of the
activities would be impacted, and 10% of the countries GDP would be reduced. A
multitude of different sectors would be drastically impacted such as: the agricultural
sector, water resources, transport, trade, education, etc. Many groups of already
vulnerable people could lose all they have. This would include the poor and lower class
communities, children, women, and the minority ethnic groups. With the changing
climate Vietnam would see a dramatic increase in the frequency and strength of
extreme weather events. The climate would almost become a sort of snowball effect of
negative consequences that continue to accumulate. Both the Red River Delta and
Mekong River Delta would be the most vulnerable regions in the country.
The biggest issues with the deltas being so vulnerable, is that both the river deltas are
home for large percentages of the populations, as well as the sources for food
production. The Mekong Delta contains nearly 22% of the countries population. It’s also
the source for nearly half of all the food produced in the country (Cornell University,
Blaine Friedlander, April 2016) In general, the agricultural sector will take an incredibly
damaging hit. The wealth of the country will decrease as they depend very heavily upon
trade. Vietnam is considered one of the most important players in the global food
system. They are the second largest producers of coffee in the world. The crops used to
produce coffee grow in the highlands of the country and with the increase in
temperatures and inconsistent rainfall patterns in the North, they could see a huge hit to
The future of Vietnam, will see the severity of storms increase. In both the 1980’s
and the 1990’s, only two storms struck the country. These are storms that got a 12 or
greater on the Beaufort scale. From 2001 to 2008 alone, Vietnam saw five severe
Projections for precipitation in Vietnam are very uneven and vary over space and
time. Under the A1B emissions scenario, projections show an increase of 10-20% of
rainfall over both the Red River Delta and Mekong River Delta, where the possibility of
floods is the highest. In the South Central coast region, scenarios show a decrease in
precipitation, which is an issue considering this area is the driest in the country. During
the rainy season, monthly rainfall is projected to decrease from the months of May to
July, but from the months of August to September it is expected to increase. In the dry
season, a deficit in rainfall is expected to happen in many areas in both the north and
south. As mentioned before, the South Central coast and the central highlands will see
experience a sea level rise of around 75cm. Also, according to the same scenario, the
rising sea levels are likely to drive increased salinity of freshwater resources, which will
create many new issues. The increased salinity will threaten important aquaculture
species, the area and depth of coastal mangrove forests, and significant cultivation
areas in the Mekong and North Deltas. The mangrove forests are extremely important,
as they act as a sort of defensive wall that stabilizes shorelines against storms and
wave damage. This issue combined with even worse storms and rising sea levels is an
gas emissions. To put that into perspective, China ranks at the very top of the list with
20.09% of total global emissions, while vietnam sits at .72%. Vietnam continues to
develop coal fired thermal power plants. It is considered as the major electricity supply
source for their economy. These coal powered plants make up 35% of the countries
total electricity output and they expect that number to increase to 53.2% by the year
2030. The issue with the use of these power plants in Vietnam, reported by MONRE, is
that nearly 90% of Vietnamese enterprises uses completely outdated technology. The
country is a heavy user of Chinese technology and 75% of these imported machines
and production lines were manufactured back in the 1950’s and 60’s. The technology
made back in 50’s and 60’s was obviously no where near as advanced and efficient as
the technology we have today. The older equipment causes serious pollution and
Action/Politics
implemented to mitigate the effects of climate change in the future. The National Target
Program to respond to climate change (NTPRCC) was created in 2012. The National
Target Program on Energy Efficiency (NTPEE) was also created in 2012 to combat
other aspects of climate change. The Support Program for Response to climate change
is another recent program created to enforce mitigation efforts. The United States are
helping Vietnam through another program known as the USAID Vietnam Clean Energy
Program.
Vietnam has emphasized three main focuses in their adaptation and mitigation
processes. One of the first focuses, is the coastal zones. They are attempting to
strengthen and elevate embankments nationwide, to combat the rising sea levels and
damaging waves. The country has accepted that there will be a level of climate change
induced losses but it is almost inevitable. In these coastal zones they also want to
apply new agricultural techniques and attempt to elevate as many houses as they can
above flood levels. There has also been an attempt to encourage coastal residents to
move inland.
Agriculture is another huge focus. Currently, their short term measures include
the prevention of soil erosion, providing proactive crop irrigation, implementing soil
protection, and selecting crops suited to climate change. The long term measures
include adopting climate change suited cropping patterns, attempting to create new
species, and modernizing stockbreeding and cultivation techniques. Another focus they
have added to agriculture is providing additional incentives for aqua farming and
The last focus, and these are by no means in order of importance, is water
resources. Raising awareness and educating the public is huge focus when it comes to
water resources. Currently, the country is looking at ways to formulate and develop new
When looking at the United States, the country has become so incredibly
polarized that scientific facts have somehow become a bipartisan issue. If you agree
with the evidence of climate change you have become a sheep, liberal, democrat, etc.
In the U.S., the majority of the country hasn’t seen the extreme impacts that climate
change can have, like it has in many other countries. In the case of Vietnam, the debate
over whether climate change exists, and whether or not humans have any influence,
isn’t even an issue. Mike Hoffman, professor at Cornell University stated, “Farmers are
seeing the changes, there are no climate change deniers in Vietnam.” The majority
population in this country has seen the effects of climate change first hand and know
how dangerous it is. Aside from the fact that they are not a developed nation and have
to do some things that are environmentally friendly, such as the main source of
electricity, they are aggressive when it comes to taking action. Vietnam is part of both
Vietnam is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. At the pace
we are going with the current emissions, by 2100 certain areas of Vietnam could look
almost apocalyptic. Fortunately, the country hasn’t been persuaded by propaganda and
is working to effectively mitigate and adapt to the many impacts of climate change. If the
rest of the world takes action like Vietnam, then the future of our planet is in good
shape. If countries like our own don’t take the proper action, then places such as
Vietnam and the people that live there could be unfairly and very negatively impacted.
References
Adger, W. N. (1999). Social Vulnerability to Climate Change and Extremes in Coastal Vietnam.
World Development,27( 2), 249-269. doi:10.1016/s0305-750x(98)00136-3
Tran, T., Nguyen, X. H., Huynh, T. L., Tran, V. T., Duong, N. T., & Doan, T. T. (2017).
Estimating sea level rise for Vietnam East Sea. Vietnam Journal of Science, Technology and
Engineering,59( 1), 73-79. doi:10.31276/vjste.59(1).73
Michael Waibel, “Implications and Challenges of Climate Change for Vietnam,” Pacific News,
JanuaryFebruary 2008, accessed 15 September 2013, http://www.pacific-geographies.org.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “Climate Change 2013: The Physical
Science Basis,” IPCC, September 2013, 69-71, accessed 10 October 2013, http://www.ipcc.ch.
Change in annual average temperature (°C) during the last 50 years in Vietnam [source
MONRE (2012a, b)] first image
Friedlander, B. (n.d.). Rising seas puts Vietnam in climate change 'bull's-eye'. Retrieved from
http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2016/04/rising-seas-puts-vietnam-climate-change-bull-s-eye
Vietnamnet.vn. (n.d.). Vietnam ranks 27th in greenhouse gas emissions - News VietNamNet.
Retrieved from
https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/185103/vietnam-ranks-27th-in-greenhouse-gas-e
missions.html