An estimated 60 million fishermen and farmers depend on the Mekong River for its rich nutrients and abundant fish.A new study by a group of scientists said by 2050 climate change could raise temperatures in parts of the Mekong basin twice as fast as the global average.That would intensify extreme weather events, such as flooding, and reduce fish and crop production says study leader Jeremy Carew-Reid.He said, "In Laos alone there are some 700 species that are used by families to sustain their livelihoods. We know so little about them.While some species will benefit from hotter climates, important crops such as coffee in Vietnam and rice in Thailand could be forced to move.But fish in the Mekong system, the largest inland fishery in the world,cannot relocate so easily and fish farming has already reached its environmentally sustainable capacity.Some 30,000 man-made barriers, such as hydropower dams, compound the effects of climate change, said Carew-Reid.“When you take those in concert with climate change, we're looking at a pretty, a pretty negative scenario for fisheries in the basin,” he said.Scientists at the study's release in Bangkok said dams and other barriers constitute the single largest threat to fish diversity and production.
