Raising public awareness of climate change
Update: 21/02/2009
Poor understanding of climate change among a majority of citizens is hindering national efforts to cope with the issue, said Tran Thuc Vien, head of the National Institute of Hydrometeorology.
He noted that even some delegates to the recent seminars on climate change did not have a proper knowledge of it.
Experts also agreed that education on the issue should focus on concrete figures, images and examples. Each economic zone should be aware of the specific impact of climate change on it.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has planned to launch a website on appropriate response to climate change.
Over the past 50 years, average temperature has risen by 0.7 degree Celsius and the sea by about 20 cm in Vietnam, according to Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Van Duc, who warned that the figures would climb to 3 degree Celsius and 1m in 2100, respectively.
It was estimated that a 1 m rise in sea level would affect 10 percent of the country’s population, reduce its GDP growth rate by 10 percent and submerge about 40,000 km2 of coastal plain per year.
Climate change would also cause extreme weather conditions such as unseasonable hurricanes and increasingly severe floods and droughts.