Environment Issues in Vietnam

Environment Issues In Vietnam
By: Julie Le

Vietnam is a developing country; with 76% of its population living in rural areas and with the livelihoods of 70% of the population being based of the exploitation of natural resources. The Vietnam economy has developed relatively fast. There many issues that are happening in Vietnam, but the biggest issue right now would be about the environment. Urbanization, industrialization, and intensive farming led to air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution which means it made a negative impact on Vietnam’s environment.

A majority of Vietnam’s environmental issue is because of the waste. In Vietnam, there is very little local garbage disposable. The problem about solid waste is that it’s very hazardous. Garbage disposables are usually found in big developed malls but other than that, people will usually just throw their waste on the floor. In Canada, if you are caught littering, you can be fined. But in Vietnam, if you were to litter on the ground, no one would really care. All this waste caused severe forestation, soil erosion, and sedimentation of rivers, flooding in the deltas, declining fish yields, and pollution of the coastal and marine environment. Studies show that if more environmental contamination continues, it will increase the incidence of various diseases and birth defects. This is a big issue because every day the population in Vietnam is rising, which means that there needs to be more products made and in order for the products to be made, you will need industrialization, which means that more pollution will come in the air because of the factories, with all the pollution surrounding everyone and everything, it would be hard for the citizens to breathe and that also means that clean water would be hard to find. Not all Vietnam citizens are educated about the dangers that can happen if they continue to throw garbage on the floor. People care more about making a living and feeding their families than they do about protecting the environment. Saigon is the most populated area but it’s also the most polluted due to the large amount of people living in the city. Since all of this environmental issue is happening, the climate has also changed because of it. The weather is getting very hot and humid. The climate change will seriously affect life, production and environment worldwide. According to the World Bank, Vietnam is among the counties which are hardest hit by climate change and sea level rise. In order for the people in Vietnam to know what’s going on in their environment, they need to be educated about what can happen in the future if they continue to litter without caring.