Satellite images show seawater has encroached an estimated 1.5km of land in the eastern coastal area of the southernmost province of Ca Mau over the past 40 years.

Satellite images taken from 2005 to 2010 show that in just five years, a 200m section of the eastern coastal area of Ca Mau was swallowed by seawater, according to scientists at the Vietnam National Remote Sensing Center (RSC) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE).

“In this area, coastlines are seriously eroded. Seawater is just a few meters away from a commune’s people’s committee at high tide,” said Dang Truong Giang, a scientist at RSC.

The scientists added that encroaching seawaters are occurring nationwide. Four coastal areas from Quang Ninh to Ninh Binh northern provinces have been eroded by seawater; the worst cases have been recorded in Hai Phong City’s Cat Hai District and Nam Dinh Province’s Hai Hau District.

In central Vietnam, a study shows that 50 percent of the 1-km long coastline has been eroding since 2005. The scientists record erosion of 15 to 100m per year in the region.

In southern Vietnam, coastal erosion is recorded in Ngoc Hien, Dam Doi, and Tran Van Thoi districts in Ca Mau Province, Dong Hai District in Tra Vinh Province, and rural Can Gio District in Ho Chi Minh City.

Nguyen Thanh Minh, Chief of Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands (VASI), told Tuoi Tre the administration has finished its comprehensive study of coastal erosion across the country after two years and will present it at a conference held in Bangkok, Thailand next week.