Scientists say Climate Change, Dams Threaten Mekong Livelihoods
March 29, 2013
A fisherman casts his net in the Mekong river in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 7, 2012.
Scientists meeting in the Thai capital have warned extreme weather caused by climate change will reduce fish stocks and major crops in the Mekong River Basin if countries in Southeast Asia fail to adapt. However, they also warn dam building, much of it for hydropower, is the largest single threat to fisheries that sustain millions of people.
An estimated 60 million fishermen and farmers depend on the Mekong River for its rich nutrients and abundant fish.
A new study by a group of scientists said by 2050 climate change could raise temperatures in parts of the Mekong basin twice as fast as the global average.
That would intensify extreme weather events, such as flooding, and reduce fish and crop production says study leader Jeremy Carew-Reid. He said, "In Laos alone there are some 700 species that are used by families to sustain their livelihoods. We know so little about them."
While some species will benefit from hotter climates, important crops such as coffee in Vietnam and rice in Thailand could be forced to move.
But fish in the Mekong system, the largest inland fishery in the world, cannot relocate so easily and fish farming has already reached its environmentally sustainable capacity.
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