'Natural air conditioners' are getting hotter

From Da Lat to Mang Den, Sa Pa... everything is warmer

Famous for its cool climate, Da Lat is the choice of many people for vacations, especially during the hot season. However, this year, tourists are disappointed that the "city of thousands of flowers" has become warmer. Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, who just returned from a trip to Da Lat during the April 30 - May 1 holiday, shared: "I went to Da Lat during Tet and saw changes, but this time I came back and found it even hotter. Of course, compared to other places, it is still quite okay, but compared to Da Lat itself before, it has become much warmer. According to actual feelings and mobile devices, the outdoor temperature is up to 31 - 32 degrees Celsius. At this rate, in a few years, Da Lat will be as hot as other places."

As a resident of Da Lat, Mr. Nguyen Van Binh explained: Since after Tet until now, Da Lat's weather has been in a period of 4 seasons in 1 day. This period starts from after Tet to early summer. The noon from 10am to about 2pm is hot, the peak is from 11am to 1pm. After that, the weather is cool again and late at night it will be cold, so you need to wear warm clothes. According to him, compared to other places, Da Lat is still a cool and ideal destination. "However, in reality, the temperature in Da Lat has really increased. Previously, the highest temperature was only 25 - 26 degrees Celsius, but in recent years, there have been historical temperatures of 30 - 31 degrees Celsius, but for a very short time, only 1 - 2 hours at noon. The reason is due to global climate change (CC) warming, not just Da Lat", Mr. Binh admitted.

From the top of Lang Biang looking down at Da Lat city, you can only see greenhouses and very few trees.

Comparing the weather history during the last two holidays, it can be seen that the temperature in some resorts has increased significantly. Specifically, in Da Lat in 2023, the temperature ranged from 14 - 27 degrees Celsius; while this year the lowest temperature was 16 degrees Celsius and the highest was 29 degrees Celsius, corresponding to an average increase of 2 degrees Celsius. In Mang Den town (Kon Plong district, Gia Lai ), the temperature in 2023 was from 18 - 31 degrees Celsius, this year from 20 - 32 degrees Celsius, an increase of 1 - 2 degrees Celsius.

Or at a famous tourist destination, Sa Pa, the temperature during the 2023 holiday season is from 13 to 23 degrees Celsius, while this year the lowest is 20 degrees Celsius and the highest is 24 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature increased by 7 degrees and the highest increased by 1 degree Celsius. In general, the weather is getting hotter and many people need to find a place to escape the heat. The general feeling of many people is that places that are considered cool all year round are also getting hotter.

Da Lat Flower Garden - a tourist attraction

Restoring the natural trend: City in the forest?

Associate Professor, Dr. Le Anh Tuan, former Deputy Director of the Institute of Climate Change Research ( Can Tho University), commented: This year is a year of exceptional heat. One of the direct factors is the impact of El Nino, which is still present, although very weak. Heat is covering Southeast Asia and many other places in Asia. In addition, the accumulation of climate change factors causes the earth's temperature to increase and become warmer every year. This trend is most evident in the equatorial and sub-equatorial regions. As a sub-equatorial country, Vietnam is quite clearly affected. "Compared to many other cool-climate tourist destinations in Vietnam, Da Lat is quite affected and we see that this destination is no longer as cool as before," Dr. Tuan commented and explained that in addition to the natural factors and the general trend mentioned above, Da Lat also makes itself hotter.

We all see that pine forests have been lost a lot compared to before, replaced by increased concretization. Another problem that is also easy to see is that there are too many greenhouses growing vegetables and flowers. These farms contribute to economic development, but they have replaced trees and these greenhouses themselves increase the ground surface temperature. "This is similar to why Ho Chi Minh City's meteorological temperature is not the highest but the people of this city always feel very hot and the perceived temperature is always very high," Dr. Tuan explained.

Overall, Dr. Le Anh Tuan commented: Urban planning in Vietnam in the past has focused too much on economic factors but not enough on environmental and climate issues. For example, when we have to cut down trees to make roads, we are always ready to make trade-offs, rarely considering other solutions. But in climate science, there is a concept of "microclimate", which means the climate at specific locations. If a city does not pay attention to this factor and compresses too many high-rise buildings into it, it will generate a large amount of heat. That heat is surrounded by high-rise buildings and cannot escape, making people living there always feel hotter than other places. In Vietnam, it is very difficult to overcome these problems because our planning has long been in the form of centripetal development and has not developed in a satellite manner.

Mr. Tuan recommends: Da Lat needs to restore the pine forest area in the center and the natural waterfall systems around. In addition, reduce the number of greenhouses growing vegetables and flowers in the city. Organize and move tourist attractions out of the center and form satellite attractions and connect them with a good transportation system. Countries currently tend to no longer build green parks in the city but develop "cities in the forest" or more correctly, plant forests in the city. They plant and nurture trees that can grow into ancient trees, natural lakes... to create natural buffer zones for urban areas. With relatively good natural conditions like Da Lat, there should be a similar plan following the natural trend of "cities in the forest".

Tourists to Dalat hit record high

Preliminary report of Da Lat City authorities said: During the 5-day holiday from April 30 to May 1, Da Lat welcomed 170,000 visitors, an increase of 41% over the same period last year. Of these, 7,200 were international visitors, an increase of over 60% over the same period.

The total number of visitors to Lam Dong province is about 200,000. 1-5 star hotels have an occupancy rate of 80%. The remaining accommodation facilities have an occupancy rate of 75%.

Gia Binh

Natural forests in urban areas are heavily encroached upon.

Lam Dong Department of Construction is collecting opinions for the project to adjust the overall master plan of Da Lat city and surrounding areas until 2045. According to the above project, Da Lat is located on high mountainous terrain, so the average air temperature fluctuates between 16 - 21 degrees Celsius. Climate change scenario RCP 4.5 (high scenario), by 2030, Da Lat's temperature will increase by 0.9 degrees Celsius, rainfall will increase by 4.7 - 7.5%. By 2050, the average annual temperature will increase by about 1.2 degrees Celsius, rainfall will increase by 9 - 12%.

Data from 1980 - 2018 at the Da Lat meteorological station shows that Da Lat is getting warmer, the difference between the highest and lowest temperatures is higher, and the frequency of variation is higher. Natural forest spaces in urban areas are heavily encroached upon due to uncontrolled concreting and the El Nino phenomenon, which seriously affects the unique and extremely valuable natural resources of Da Lat... Total rainfall in the year tends to increase every year and tends to change quite complicatedly.

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