Scientists warn about extreme weather due to climate change VietNamNet Bridge – Nine communicable diseases relating to the climate change have been found in Vietnam recently, according to the Department of Preventive Medicine and Environment under the Ministry of Health.   Flooding is getting serious in big cities like Hanoi and HCM City. The nine diseases include A/H1N1 influenza, A/H5N1 influenza, dengue fever, malaria, cholera, typhoid, diarrhea, viral encephalitis and acute respiratory virus (SARS). Do Thanh from the Ministry of Heath said Vietnam is a tropical country with the long coastline which has been suffering heavily from the climate changes, especially the sea water rise. Extreme weather includes unusual, severe or unseasonal weather, and weather at the extremes of the historical distribution - the range that has been seen in the past. The climate change has had direct impacts on human health through the physical exchange between the body and the surrounding environment, leading to physiological changes, habits, adaptability and the reaction of the body to those effects. The prolonged spells of hot weather, the air temperature increases all have caused negative effects on human health, leading to increased risks for those with heart or neurological diseases. The climate change has also had indirect impacts on human health, causing some types of tropical diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, accelerates growth and development of many types of bacteria and insects, diseases carriers (flies, mosquitoes, rats, fleas). The climate change has been found as one of the reasons behind the returning of some tropical communicable diseases and the appearance of new diseases, and behind the acceleration the mutation process of the influenza virus. Meanwhile, Nguyen Duc Hoa from the Center for Hydrometeorology Forecast has warned about the increase in the extreme weather events due to the climate change. Hoa has confirmed that the 2013 rainy and stormy season has come sooner than usual. In the north, the rainy season began in May already, while in the central region, the rainy season would begin in August. It is expected that heavy rain would be seen in mid August in the central region, which would help ease the drought. The total rainfall in the months from now to November 2013 in the central region would be higher than the average level in previous years’ same periods. Hoa, in an interview given to Dau tu newspaper, said 13 storms are forecast to occur on the East Sea, including 5-6 ones to have affected the mainland. Though the number of storms is nearly the same with that in the previous years, it’s still unpredictable about their intensity and the areas to be affected. The spells of extreme cold and hot weather would occur more regularly, while floods would be severe and cause serious consequences, especially in the north, where the floods would cause the landslide, and the central region, where there is the long coastline and the steep terrain. When asked about the weather forecasting, Hoa said scientists have been meeting big difficulties in the work due to the lack of equipments. Vietnam now has 7 weather radars, of which only 2 are brand new, while the others were imported from Russian in 1980s. The number of the monitoring stations in Vietnam is just equal to 1/3 or ¼ of that in South Korea or Japan. Meanwhile, Vietnam still has not had meteorological satellites. Compiled by Kim Chi