You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

Hello, shortwavers. I am NPR correspondent Kamila Dominosky, filling in as host, and today we are going on a trip with Rebecca Hersher from NPR's climate desk.

Hey, Becky.

Hi.

So where are we headed?

We're going to Cambodia, specifically to the

central Cambodian village of Prec-Tuch. It's right next to the Mekong River. And when were you there?

So I was there in December. I visited with an NPR team that included producer Ryan Kelman

and interpreter Tat Odom.

And we wanted to visit this particular place because of something kind of surprising that's

happening there, something related to its location, which is right next to this massive river.

The Mekong River, right? One of the biggest rivers in the world.

Yeah, yeah. And this river is everything to the people in this community.

It's a fishing village on the afternoon that we arrived.

Some women were fixing fishing nets.

Others were cleaning the day's catch.

A lot of the men who had gone out fishing really early in the morning were resting.

Kids were messing around on the boats, which are parked all along the edge of the

river.

That sounds amazing, actually.

Yeah, really idyllic. You know, life is good there in many, many ways.

But living next to the Mekong also means that floods are a part of life.

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