Impacts of sea level rise on estuarine area, coastal areas of the southern delta and the direction of response actions

The estuarine coastal areas of the southern delta (SD) from Vung Tau to Ha Tien include the provinces, cities of Ho Chi Minh City, Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Kien Giang with a length of over 700 km. Along the coastline, there are 23 estuaries, of which the Cuu Long and Dong Nai - Saigon estuaries are especially important. This is a lowland area strongly influenced by the East Sea and West Sea tides. According to the IPCC recommendation, in 2007, when the sea level rises by 1m, there are up to 15.20 thousand km2 natural land of the flooded SD area, millions of people are displaced and agricultural production is severely reduced. The impact of sea level rise on the existence and development of Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta if there is not any attention to research and response actions will damage the Vietnam economy and area’s food security.

In this paper, the author presents some initial ideas for identifying the impacts of sea level rise on estuarine and coastal areas in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta and the direction of response actions.