Duong Hong Son, director of the Environment Research Center under the Institute of Hydrometeorology, Science and Environment, cited data from observation centers that said 30-50 percent of rain in Vietnam every year are acid rains which have the pH levels lower than 5.6.

The acid rain rate is calculated at 20-30 percent in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Acid rains have often occurred as unseasonal rains in the dry season and at the beginning of rainy season, and mostly in Viet Tri Province in the north, Hue city and Tay Ninh in the south.

Son said acid rain was caused by air pollution, and it damages the environment, constructions and people’s health.

In related news, Nguyen Khac Hieu, deputy director of Vietnam Hydrometeorology and Climate Change Department, told a conference that the country lacked the funds to deal with climate change.

Hieu told the conference held by the United Nations in Hanoi that Vietnam needs around VND1.97 trillion (US$109.6 million) for a program to fight climate change until 2013 and half of that cost will depend on sponsors.

But so far the country has only received $40 million from Denmark, Hieu said.

Reported by Quang Duan – Truong Son