SE Asia slowly but surely sinking into the sea
Ho Chi Minh City is constantly flooded, while Bangkok continues to sink below sea level.
It sounds like a science fiction movie set in Southeast Asia. But it’s what experts predict will happen within the next two to three decades in the major Vietnamese and Thai metropolises if current trends hold.
A recent study referred to by some as a “doomsday report” suggests that rising sea levels could flood three times more land than previously predicted.
If the study proves accurate, Southeast Asia is particularly vulnerable, with parts of Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok to slip underwater by 2050. Meanwhile, millions of people in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, the country’s fertile rice farming region, could be forced to flee coastal areas.
The report, prepared by a United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with contributions from over 130 scientists around the world, was issued in September last year.
Dan Southerland
