The paper adds to a growing body of evidence showing how large infrastructure projects and top-down economic change can make communities in the Global South more vulnerable to climate change.
Category: Mekong
Water levels of Mekong river in crisis, says GISTDA
The satellite image shows the water level of the Mekong River this year is much lower than in 2019, sandbars are exposed, according to the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency
“Drastic Cut”: What Is China Doing With Mekong Dams?
The fluctuations have made it “challenging for authorities and communities to prepare for and respond to possible impacts”, says to Dr Winai Wangpimool, Director of the MRC Secretariat’s Technical Support Division.
Study uncovers how big droughts in the Greater Mekong trigger carbon dioxide emission bursts
Based on the 2016 energy demand, the researchers estimated that prolonged droughts reduce hydropower production in the Thai-Laotian grid (refer to image) by about 4,000 GWh/year, increasing carbon dioxide emissions by 2.5 million metric tons, and increasing costs by US$120 million in one year.
World’s forgotten fish species vital for hundreds of millions of people but one-third face extinction
“Despite their importance to local communities, freshwater fish are invariably forgotten. Freshwater fish matter to the health of people and the freshwater ecosystems that all people and all life on land depend on. It’s time we remembered that,” said Mr. Seng Teak, Country Director of WWF-Cambodia.
Universal Access to Satellite Monitoring Paves the Way to Protect the World’s Tropical Forests
The Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is developing near-real time deforestation alert systems in the Lower Mekong region, inclusive of Thailand, Vietnam, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
Chinese dams not to blame for low Mekong water levels: report
The latest data shows that for the past two months, Jinghong station, one of the main hydropower stations on the Lancang River, upper half of Mekong River, has been releasing more water than the river’s average natural flow rate recorded during the Mekong River’s current dry season.
UNESCO Requests New Impact Assessment for Luang Prabang Dam
“The problem is that the dam developer doesn’t want to do a new SIA, saying that the SIA has been done. But UNESCO does not accept the first SIA.”
We neglect Asia’s freshwater fishes at our peril
But there’s no mystery about the cause of this crisis: It’s down to us – from building on wetlands and floodplains, to our poorly planned hydropower dams to over-abstraction of water for agriculture, unsustainable fishing, pollution, invasive species, sand mining and climate change.
Water levels on the Mekong River are declining sharply: Who is to blame?
The Mekong’s normal flow can be restored if large volumes of water are consistently and reliably released from Chinese dam reservoirs. However, China’s water policy shows Beijing is unlikely to change its behavior and the worst for the Mekong is yet to come.