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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 26, 2015 16:29:25 GMT
The fate of 70 million people rests on what happens to the Mekong river. With world leaders meeting in Paris next week for crucial UN climate talks, John Vidal journeys down south-east Asia’s vast waterway - a place that encapsulates some of the dilemmas they must solve. He meets people struggling to deal with the impacts of climate change as well as the ecological havoc created by giant dams, deforestation, coastal erosion and fast-growing cities. ... Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam who share the lower Mekong basin are all acutely aware that they are threatened by climate change caused by others. The region has recorded more extreme weather, deeper droughts, heavier rains, bigger floods and much hotter temperatures than ever before - all consistent with UN scientists’ predictions of global warming. The four Mekong countries go to Paris for next week’s UN meeting on climate change with ambitious plans to develop with clean power.Beautifully presented interactive series ~ www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2015/nov/26/the-mekong-river-stories-from-the-heart-of-the-climate-crisis-interactive?CMP=fb_gu
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Post by bjd on Nov 26, 2015 17:41:08 GMT
Interesting and scary. You wonder what a few forest activists can do against the economic pressure of agribusiness, illegal logging, China and its insatiable market for power, food, etc., growing population wanting to live like the West (as the last young woman says).
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 14, 2020 15:28:09 GMT
Another chapter on the river, this time about too little water, rather than too much. There is an excellent article in the NYTimes with pictures, if you can get past the paywall. Some excerpts: The Mekong is one of the most fertile rivers on earth, nurturing tens of millions of people with its nutrient rich waters and fisheries. But a series of dams, mostly in China, have robbed the river’s riches. Those who depend on its inland fisheries say their catches have declined precipitously. Persistent droughts and sudden floods have buffeted farmers. Beijing’s control of the upstream Mekong, which provides as much as 70 percent of the downstream water in the dry season, has raised hackles, even though the Southeast Asian nations depend on trade with China. ... ... data modeling measures the various components of a river’s flow, from snow and glacial melt to rainfall and soil moisture. The scientists found that for most years, the natural, unimpeded flow of the upstream Mekong roughly tracked water levels measured downstream at a gauge in Thailand, with occasional exceptions when dam reservoirs in China were being filled or released. When there was a seasonal drought in China, the five downstream nations — Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam — would eventually feel it. When there was overabundant water in China, floods ensued in the Mekong basin. But during last year’s wet season, the fortunes of the river’s two parts diverged in dramatic fashion. As China’s section of the Mekong welcomed an above average volume of water, downstream countries were stricken by a drought so crushing that parts of the river dried up entirely, leaving cracked riverbed exposed in a season when fishing should have been plentiful. ... While the Mekong is a lifeline for residents of downstream nations, the river rushes through narrow gorges in China, making it impractical for economic activity other than hydropower. ... Today, the Chinese section of the river in the nation’s southwest is punctuated by 11 major dams, which produce far more power than the region needs. ... ...even as Beijing began its hydropower push on the Mekong, it refused to join Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in a regional group dedicated to the river’s health. In one survey commissioned by the group, the Mekong River Commission, scientists warned that a dam boom on the Mekong could rob the river of 97 percent of the sediment that flows to its mouth in Vietnam.Note that Anyport has several rich reports on the Mekong. If you cannot get past the NYTimes' paywall, here are two articles that appear to have been taken directly from its report: upnewsinfo.com/2020/04/13/china-limited-the-flow-of-the-mekong-other-countries-suffered-a-drought/and www.firstpost.com/world/mekong-delta-drought-was-triggered-by-chinas-engineers-damming-the-rivers-flow-shows-new-research-8257261.html
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