气候变化导致一些基础问题

Representatives of the six countries along the Mekong River have agreed to co-exploit the river's resources, building an Asia of a shared destiny.  The commitment comes at the inaugural Lancang-Mekong Cooperation meeting in China. But there are profound concerns that climate change is already leading to fundamental problems in the lower Mekong basin. 

Also worrying is that resolving those problems could be in the hands of politicians who deny that climate change is even taking place, as our correspondent Tony Cheng reports from Vietnam.

A deep red sun rises over the Mekong delta as early morning boat traffic shuttles between the river banks. It is an image that has changed little over time. But this area is undergoing profound change…

According to a recent Standard and Poors assessment, Vietnam is the second most vulnerable country in the world to Economic and environmental damage from climate change…

That’s not news to Mr Lenh, a sixty three year old farmer in the Mekong delta. He showed me how his crops had withered in the drought with a lack of freshwater from the river…

And the intrusion of saltwater into local canals mean he may not see a harvest all year…a situation that is becoming more common with rising sea levels.

“From now on we expect difficult situations like this will happen again. From what we’ve seen, the freshwater from upstream is pushed back as the sea level rises and comes inland more and more… and we can do nothing," said Nguyen Huu Lenh, farmer.

Many people are blaming the El Nino weather pattern for this drought which cause much less rain to fall in this region and it would normally be expected. But there more disturbing patterns emerging. Most notably ligate change which increasing temperatures and raising sea levels all across this region. That may mean sea waters being able  to infiltrate so far in land in creeks and this rivers in canalis is here to stay.

Data collected across the delta shows that while this year may be unusual, the underlying factors of rising temperatures and sea levels mean that the basic ecosystem of the Mekong has already irreversibly changed.

"The impact of climate change to the river is very clear. All the figures we collected over several years reflect that temperature and the climate have unusual changes that profoundly affect the lives of the farmers and their ability to produce," said professor Le Anh Tuan, Research Institute for Climate Change.

But further research may be held up if funding from the US is halted...as it could well be. Currently all three potential Republican Presidential candidates deny the possibility of climate change.

If elected, there is a good chance that research projects into the effects of global warming will be shut down.

While global agreements to slow carbon emissions and the output of greenhouses gases are in place, action has been slow…and it may be too little too late.

But some think those affected should be doing more to help themselves.

Along the Mekong rice producers have been pressured to produce more harvests…but that in turn is producing huge amounts of greenhouse gas.

It may look as if the Mekong delta is a picture postcard image of rural life. But the drought has shown the dangerous changes to the environment here…and it may be too late to turn the clock back.