Mekong Delta will sink beneath the sea by 2100
Vietnam’s vast Mekong Delta is set to sink beneath the sea by 2100. Also using Mexico City’s traffic rumble to assess earthquake hazard, quakes on Mars and a high jumping robot.
The Mekong Delta is home to 17 million people and is Vietnam’s most productive agricultural region. An international group of scientists warn this week that almost all of the low lying delta will have sunk beneath the sea within 80 years without international action. Its disappearance is the result of both sea level rise and developments such as dams and sand mining.
Also in the programme: using the rumbling of traffic in Mexico City to monitor earthquake hazard, record-breaking quakes on Mars and a record-breaking high jumping robot.
Photo: Mekong River in Kampong Cham, Cambodia
Credit: Muaz Jaffar/EyeEm/Getty Images
Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker
Last on
Broadcasts
- Thu 5 May 202219:32GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Fri 6 May 202203:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia, South Asia & East Asia only
- Fri 6 May 202204:32GMTBBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Fri 6 May 202208:32GMTBBC World Service
- Fri 6 May 202212:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia, Online, UK DAB/Freeview, News Internet & Europe and the Middle East only
- Fri 6 May 202219:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sun 8 May 202201:32GMTBBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean & News Internet only
Podcast
![]()
Science In Action
The BBC brings you all the week's science news.
