Viet Nam - Ho Chi Minh City - Existing and planned transport 2050 and impacts of flooding

Existing and planned transport infrastructure in HCMC will be at risk from the effects of climate change.

The HCMC study has shown that, in 2050, with climate change, all categories of roads will be affected by extreme flooding, including axis and ring roads, highways and national and provincial roads to a significant amount. The planned flood control project will protect axis roads and ring roads to some extent but will not be effective in protecting many highways and national and provincial roads. Whilst flooding of the roads has the potential to damage roads, especially embankments and culverts that prevent the cross flows of water (especially if the culverts are not sized correctly), flooding may merely be disruptive to traffic for the duration of the flood and during clean up. Road intersections and nodal points will also be affected which has the potential to exacerbate disruptions to traffic flow and affect existing high congestion.

Railways, monorails and metro tracks are expected to be in place by 2050, increasing the availability of public transport options. The share of public transport usage is expected to increase as such options become available. All planned public transport infrastructure will be affected by flooding with sections of each type of system lying in areas affected by extreme flood events. The design of these systems will take into account flooding to minimise direct effects, and so transport disruption will be the main issue. However, rail tracks on embankments that do not have adequate cross drainage may also be at risk of structural damage.

The existing and future airports are located on higher ground and will not be flooded but access to them would be through flooded roads, with consequent potential disruption for passengers, services and supplies.

Ports and navigation channels are located on the river banks and so will be affected directly by extreme flooding from rainfall, sea level rise and storm surge. The issues for the upgrading and design of new port facilities should take into account increases in the tidal range, to ensure adequate height of wharves and protection of transport and storage facilities on the land-based areas. Navigation channels may require more frequent dredging if sedimentation from the watershed and collapse of river banks is induced by climate change events.

Source: HCMC Adaptation to Climate Change Study - Final Report

Viet Nam - Ho Chi Minh City - Planned forests, agriculture and acquaculture, and saline intrusion in drought 2050 due to climate change

Currently, extensive saline intrusion is experienced during regular flooding and it is predicted that there would be a significant increase in saline intrusion in 2050. Close to 60% of HCMC's agricultural lands are expected to be affected by increased salinity in 2050.

During 2050 drought conditions, the salinity zone of influence extends well into Hoc Mon, Chanh Binh and Nha Be Districts and has the potential to affect agricultural fields, production forests and parks in these districts. It will not be possible to abstract water from rivers and canals for irrigation in this zone. Deeper rooted trees in production forests and parks may be affected by increased salinity in groundwater and irrigation from groundwater sources will be restricted.

The protected mangrove forests are adapted to cope with much higher salinities than will be experienced in this scenario and are likely to be unaffected by the increased saline intrusion.

Source: HCMC Adaptation to Climate Change Study - Final Report

Viet Nam - Southern Economic Focal Region: Communes with Highest Pollution Load and Industrial Estates

The map identifies the communes with the highest pollution load from manufacturing industry in the Southern Economic Focal Region. Enterprise statistics derived from the General Statistics Office Enterprise Database (2004) where used as input into the World Bank's Industrial Pollution Projection System (IPPS) to calculate the pollution load for all together 13 pollutants covering three media (air, water, land). Communes with Highest Pollution Load are clearly concentrated in Ho Chi Minh City and the parts of the neighbouring provinces that border HCMC. Additinally the maps shows the location of major Industrial Estates which concentrate in the same area.

Source of map's statistical information: Pollution Load Ranking - ICEM 2004 (General Statistics Office (2004) and IPPS); Industrial Estates - ICEM 2006.

Viet Nam - Southern Economic Focal Region: Communes with Highest Pollution Load and Habitats

Communes with Highest Pollution Load identified from calculations of the Industrial Pollution Projection System (IPPS) are shown in conjunction with the location of remaining natural and critical natural habitats, as defined by BirdLife Indochina. While critical natural habitats as the Vinh Cuu and Nam Cat Tien National Parks are upstream of these communes, the Mangrove area of Can Gio is downstream, receiving all the streams which pass the communes previously, thus being seriously threatened by their releases. Emissions to air potentially pose a threat to upstream protected areas as well.

Source of map's statistical information: Pollution Load Ranking - ICEM 2004 (General Statistics Office (2004) and IPPS); Critical Natural Habitats - BirdLife Indochina.

Viet Nam - 3D Geospatial Statistics: Soil Degradation, 2004

This 3D geostatistical map combines three layers of information building and illustrating a potential cause-effect relationship: 1) Intensity of aquacultural use per province, 2) the distribution of wellfields and their pumping capacity, and 3) the distribution of soils showing signs of salinization or aluminification. The overlay shows that these soils are particularly widespread in the South of Viet Nam where peaking aquaculture and irrigation agriculture (high water demand) results in heavy groundwater pumping. This can - besides other reasons - lead to the influx and uplift of brackish and saline water into aquifers by the hydraulic pressure that the pumping creates.

Source of map's statistical information: General Statistics Office (2004), Viet Nam Water Resources Atlas 2003.

Viet Nam - 3D Geospatial Statistics: Solid Waste in Municipal Areas, 2004

The 3D geostatistical map shows the amount of solid waste in generated municipal areas of Viet Nam in 2004. Unsurprising, the amoung generated is higher in provinces with a more urban profile (Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Hai Phong) than in provinces with a larger share of rural areas and therefore lower population density. An interesting detail, however, is the block height, which indicates the annual increase in generated solid waste (2002 to 2004) - with the urban areas clearly not only generating more than rural areas, but also creating more and more waste on an annual base, while rural areas stable about their waste generation pattern.

Source of map's statistical information: World Bank Viet Nam Environment Monitor 2004, compiled from SOER, URENCOs, DoNREs, NISTPASS, VEPA.

Viet Nam - 3D Geospatial Statistics: Population Density, 2004

The pattern of population density in Viet Nam is clearly concentrated in the both major deltas of the country - the Red River Delta and the Mekong Delta. Within these areas, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are the major administrative and industrial hotspots, and therefore stand out in terms of population density. However, the block height indicates the increase in population density - the sign for urban aggregation as result of ural-urban migration. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City stand out in this context underlining the importance of decentralisation measures to counteract rural-urban disparities.

Source of map's statistical information: General Statistics Office (1995, 2004).

Viet Nam - 3D Geospatial Statistics: Slope

This geospatial statistics map uses a mask of non-forested area derived from a forest cover dataset to cut out slope values from a Digital Slope Model (DSM) and subsequently analyses these remaining areas statistically against the land area of each province. Remarkable is that both Central Highlands as well as Red River Highlands have a large degree of steep slopes by topography, however, the Red River Highlands are considerably more deforested, which explains the high values there compared to the low values in the provinces of the Central Highlands.

Source of map's statistical information: DSM calculated from 90m Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM); WWF Forest Cover map of Viet Nam (2000)

Viet Nam - Quang Nam Province: 3D View of Bung River / Cai River

Bung River and Cai River join in the mountainous hinterlands of Quang Nam Province (view direction: East-West). The hilly terrain does not allow for large-scale agriculture, which concentrates around the rivers. Low and midslope sections are dominated by plantations (lighter greens). Natural habitats are likely to be restricted to steeper slope sections and the upper slopes (darker greens).

Viet Nam - Quang Nam Province: 3D View of the Bon River Delta

Bon River discharges into the ocean about 25km south of Da Nang City (view direction East-West), forming a large delta mainly used for paddy agriculture. The soil in the west is of fluvial origin and therefore nutrient rich, while marine sediments and brackish waters mix into the coastal soils. The lesser productivity of these soils is compensated by a higher density of aquaculture and marine fishery.

Thailand - Western Forest Complex: 3D View of Khwae Noi River

Khwae Noi River disects the National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries of the Western Forest Complex (view direction North-South). The image clearly shows the protected areas as the forested hills to both sides of the valley: on the left (Eastern) side Lum Khlong Ngu, Kuan Si Nakharin and Erawan National Park, on the right (Western) side, Thong Pha Phum and Sai Yok National Park. The valley itself is heavily used by agriculture right to the borders of the proected areas.

Thailand - Western Forest Complex: 3D View of a hydropower scheme

Srinagarind Hydropower Dam is situated between Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary and Erawan National Park. While the displayed part is an unprotected area with a settlement to be seen on the left (Eastern) side, the major part of the waterbody created by the dam falls into Lam Khlong Ngu Kuan Si Nakharin National Park.