It has been more than 2 weeks since storm No. 3 Yagi swept through the northern provinces of our country and was immediately followed by a storm circulation that caused heavy rain and severe flooding in many provinces and cities. Besides the loss and pain of people and property, another issue that has received a lot of attention is environmental pollution caused by waste, decomposed animal carcasses, and seriously polluted water sources in the provinces affected by natural disasters. Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh) is one of the places that has to bear the pressure of the huge amount of waste after storm No. 3.
At the seminar "So that environmental pollution after storms and floods is no longer a concern" organized by Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Van Ve - Vice President of Vietnam Clean Water and Environment Association and Dr. Tran Van Son - Head of Environmental Technology Department, Faculty of Environment, University of Natural Sciences (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) discussed the burning issue of environmental pollution after storms and floods, and at the same time proposed solutions to overcome this situation.
According to two experts, accurate forecasting of natural disasters is one of the most effective tools to help us minimize the damage caused by extreme weather events. Thanks to the development of technology, scientists are increasingly able to make more detailed and accurate forecasts.
However, to improve the effectiveness of forecasting, we need to invest heavily in observation systems, develop modern digital forecasting models, and strengthen communication to raise public awareness. Each person needs to proactively update information on weather forecasts and be ready to take preventive measures when there is a warning.
Mr. Nguyen Van Ve (Vice President of Vietnam Clean Water and Environment Association) said: “We must continuously come up with plans to review and assess the impact of natural disasters.
Management agencies need to have effective measures to protect the environment, especially plans and scenarios to handle environmental pollution after storms and floods to proactively respond and minimize harmful effects on people's health and production.
Only then can we achieve the goals, tasks, and solutions to protect schools in the short and long term for a healthy, clean, green, and beautiful life."
Sharing the same opinion with Mr. Nguyen Van Ve, Dr. Tran Van Son said that we have focused a lot on forecasting work and need to continue investing in this work in the future.
“Currently, we have focused a lot on forecasting work and need to invest more in this work. We need to forecast and develop risk scenarios when storms, floods, or have plans to handle environmental problems after storms and floods, from which we can propose specific solutions to apply to each locality," said Dr. Tran Van Son.
Dr. Tran Van Son also emphasized that building risk scenarios and providing solutions not only helps to minimize damage caused by natural disasters but is also necessary to adapt to climate change. In addition, solutions such as planning solid waste landfills and wastewater treatment systems can be implemented in areas where storms and floods will be less affected. Plant more salt-tolerant and drought-tolerant trees to adapt to climate change.
In addition, the two experts also emphasized that the weather is becoming more and more extreme and raising awareness of environmental protection among each person is the most practical action to prevent natural disasters and environmental pollution after storms and floods.
