Vietnam has muscled into the top tier of rice exporters and produces vast amounts of shrimp from man-made ponds across the Mekong Delta, bringing prosperity to its farmers, says the Guardian. “The relentless pressure to earn more money and boost development is both intensified by climate change and worsening its impact,” says the story produced in partnership with FERN. Farmers are converting mangrove forests into rice paddies and shrimp ponds. The result is little or no buffer against storm surges that push salt water upstream in the low-lying Delta and wash away farmland. Weather records say the region is hotter than a few decades ago, a change that is coupled with more intense heat waves and heavier rainfall during the monsoon season.
“From an environmental point of view, all these developments have created a vicious cycle of pressures. Salinity threatens rice production. Strongly influenced by retailers and advertisers, farmers anxious to keep up their yields further sully freshwater supplies by applying profligate amounts of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers,” says the Guardian. “These practices are not only unsustainable; they also threaten export revenues.”