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Unpacking local impacts of climate change: learning with a coastal community in Central Vietnam

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Abstract

Large-scale climate models (LCM) have been used to understand climate change and its effects, but there remains a concern about their inability fully to reflect local contexts and about a high degree of their uncertainty. Through a case study that involved residents of a coastal community in Central Vietnam, this paper presents how local people perceive climate change and characterize climate impacts on their life. Findings of the study show that local people perceive a variety of important manifestations of climate change, especially temperature, rainfall, sea level rise and monsoons, although they have limited ideas about future climate change. In addition, local people unpack the complexity of climate impacts through interactions among climatic events, livelihoods and the five capitals (physical, natural, financial, human and social resources). Findings of the research suggest that it will be necessary to move away from viewing coastal villages in Vietnam as homogenous units with shared climate experiences, and to combine both local experience and scientific evidence based on LCMs to promote the synergies and address the limitations of the two sources of information for climate interventions at the local level.

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Fig. 1

Source: the maps were adapted from the Google Earth

Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Source: Vietnam’s National Hydro-meteorological Centre

Fig. 4

Source: Vietnam’s National Hydro-meteorological Centre

Fig. 5

Source: Vietnam’s National Hydro-meteorological Centre

Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Source: Vietnam’s National Hydro-meteorological Centre. Disconnected points are resulted from unavailable data

Fig. 8

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Notes

  1. Subsidiary crops include vegetable, sweet potato, beans, peanut.

  2. Local people refer flooding to inundation that persists for a long period, 1–3 months, while they conceive a flood as a rapid overflow of water from the river onto their plains and houses.

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Acknowledgements

This research was conducted as part of the doctoral thesis of the first author. He acknowledges the graduate scholarships from Carleton University and the IDRC Doctoral Award from the International Development and Research Centre to conduct this research. He also appreciates the valuable mentorship from Dr. Michael Brklacich, Dr. Peter Ricketts, and Dr. Nguyen Quang Dung. He would like to thank Mr. Pham Trong Yen, Mr. Hoang Dinh Lien, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa, Nguyen Huu Nam, Bui Thi Thuy Nhi, Nguyen Hien Thi for their great help. In addition, the collaboration from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quang Tri Province, Trieu An commune, as well as leaders and Tuong Van villagers is highly acknowledged.

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  1. Rural Community Development Centre, National Institute of Agricultural Planning and Projection (NIAPP), 61 Hang Chuoi Str, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Nguyen Huu Trung

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  1. Nguyen Huu Trung
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Correspondence to Nguyen Huu Trung.

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Nguyen, H.T. Unpacking local impacts of climate change: learning with a coastal community in Central Vietnam. Nat Hazards 93, 125–146 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-018-3292-1

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