Lead Review
- Book: The Physics of Climate Change
- Location: Mekong Delta
- Author: Lawrence M Krauss
“The Mekong has the richest density of freshwater fish in the world and is home to what is estimated to be over one thousand species of fish” Just let that sink in for a moment. The Mekong supports over fourteen million people along its length. The Mekong’s delta – because it is so flat – is at the mercy of the slightest change in climate and the concomitant rise in sea levels. The author says it is like the canary in a coal mine, it is even now urgently waving a red flag at the world. Changes there will impact the world beyond South East Asia. Climate change is a global issue and we can never forget that.
Strong words from the author, indeed. He ponders the notion that the earth has survived much and will continue to do so, Mother Nature being more powerful than humans. And yet…Exponentially humans are releasing CO2 into the atmosphere which is upsetting the natural order and destabilising a very robust and harmonious system. CO2, he stresses, has risen as human production has grown.
The author ventured on a trip by boat along the Mekong, and in Vietnam, in the Delta, his thoughts gained sharp focus and coalesced.
In the Mekong Delta it is a constant battle to keep the salty waters of the South China Sea at bay. If seawater encroaches far up the Mekong River, then large scale destruction of rice crops will take place, and livelihoods will be under threat. The freshwater fish – mentioned at the beginning – will die. The inevitability of this happening is almost certain and the author suggests that the daily battle has already – depressingly – been lost.
“..the Mekong Delta represents, in microcosm, the threat facing much of the world’s population from sea level rise”
Vietnam is not alone. Without intervention much of Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea as well as several countries in Europe (the Netherlands as a prime example, of course) will disappear. Sobering!
This is an interesting if not altogether original look at what is happening around the world. There is a lot of scientific data in the book, with diagrams and formulae and I have to be honest that my eyes glazed over at times because I am unfamiliar with many of the technical details. A good read for anyone with a scientific penchant.
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