The UN climate change conference (COP15) is under way in Copenhagen to find solutions to climate change, a prominent threat to the future of the Earth.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says warming in the last 100 years has caused about a 0.74°C increase in global average temperature and the situation can get worse in the future, mainly due to greenhouse gas emission from human activities.

Vietnam is a country with a 3,500 kilometre-long coastal line and its people’s lives are attached to agriculture, fishery and sea tourism. Therefore, Vietnam is among the countries most severely affected by climate change.

Below are some of the photos that Vietnam is presenting at the COP15 conference.

A church in Xuong Dien, Nam Dinh, has been surrounded by sea water and is left out of a new dike.

Typhoons are hitting the country with an increasing frequency.

Floods are causing hundreds of millions of USD worth of damage each year to the Vietnamese economy.

The agricultural sector is being severely affected by climate change.

Outdated manufacturing methods are contributing to environmental deteriorating.

The shifting cultivation of wandering hilltribes are still seen in some areas.

The Red River is at its driest in the last 107 years.

Casuarina trees, which were planted to prevent desertification, are now seen dying in many places.

Extreme exploitation of natural minerals such as titan and gold can add to desertification.

“Wood flood” in Quang Nam reveals an alarming situation of forest destruction.

Dried fishing farms can now be seen in many coastal areas.

Deserted hills in Chieng So, Dien Bien.

Even the H’Mong people, who live at the highest altitude, now experience floods.