The Mekong River ecosystem is on the verge of collapse due to the accumulative effects of climate change.
Hydropower dams, drought and human-made activities such as deforestation and sand mining have also caused water levels to drop to their lowest in more than 60 years. The Mekong flows for nearly 5,000km (3,100 miles) from Himalayan glaciers in Tibet, through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia before reaching the South China Sea in Vietnam.
“Together, climate impact and dam restrictions are changing the way that the Mekong flows – much for the worse”, says Brian Eyler who runs the Mekong Dam Monitor at the Stimson Center in Washington DC.
