Felipe Balderas

Climate Perspectives

The Mekong delta where water has played a major part in the lives of peoples since
time began. I have lived on it and worked with it since as long as I can remember. My name is
Hipstue Wansun and I’m 19 going to the University studying Journalism, making the most of the
incursion my village has experienced. Once the land that my family cultivated would have been
dominated by a vibrant green color now it’s a dull brown. The plants are dead because of the
encroaching salt water. Rising sea levels from global warming has meant that the sea has been
reaching as much as 60 km in land and destroying rice crops. 10 years ago all this land was used
for rice cultivation but the creeping salt deposits caused by rising sea levels has destroyed that
industry but strangely enough people don’t mind. This is one of the few examples were global
warming has done some good. Vietnam is the second biggest rice producer in the world once
destroyed crops would have spelled disaster but now the people in Sow Mow province rice
crops die in salt water but prawn farming (a type of shrimp) flourishes in this area. So, now
farmers like me have switched from rice to prawn harvesting, and we’re making a living.

I interviewed a local near a tributary that has seen some of the highest sea level rises in
the region.“The prawn farming produces a much better yield for less work”. Says Tran Ho Niam
a farmer on the Mei Cong Delta . “This is not the case for rice the cost is much higher for rice
farming and we would do more work planting and harvesting. Prawn make more money.”

“It has transformed the fortunes for many companies in the Mekong delta. And
especially for 17,000 people in the Kai Nowa district who switched production to prawns with
help from the government”. Says Duang Chan a village leader who owns a Seafood restaurant.
“Because of the salt problems we’ve only manage 1 rice crop in the area it’s a good thing we
have made the government make the most out of the encroaching salt. Overall mostly the
prawns have improved the lives of the people.”

As a result of this new adaption to a changing ecosystem the Vietnamese people have taken
advantage of the new opportunity. In my village in Kai Nowa we are the biggest seafood
producers not only in Vietnam but in Asia. With much of the harvested prawn going to Australia
and the United states. It has also helped make Kai Nowa the biggest seafood producer in not
only in Vietnam but in Asia. Now more that 400,000 people are involved in the prawn industry.
With the industry Increasing by 15 percent a year.

The government has improved the system of canals and dikes to the point where
existing rice fields are safe unless there are significant changes in climate. The only tradeoff is
with the very high tides. These high tides lose prawn crop for farmers but every year we are
improving the barriers against the sea and the future looks good. With few people complaining
because of the new income. I cant help but think that all of these new changes to the region
will eventually become an obstacle to overcome in the future. I know that the sea level rise will
affect millions of people around the world but I hope that this part of the world will be
prepared to handle the consequences.
 Works Cited

Friedlander, Blaine. “Rising Seas Puts Vietnam in Climate Change 'Bull's-Eye' | Cornell Chronicle.” Genetic
Switches Play Big Role in Human Evolution, news.cornell.edu/stories/2016/04/rising-seas-puts-vietnam-climate-
change-bull-s-eye.

Climate Wizard, www.climatewizard.org/.

“Moorings & Buoys.” Oceanus Magazine, WHOI, www.whoi.edu/main/topic/moorings-buoys.

“Ocean - Oceanic Climate Variables | NOAA Climate.gov.” Global Warming Frequently Asked Questions |
NOAA Climate.gov, www.climate.gov/maps-data/primer/ocean-oceanic-climate-variables.