Maldives, one of the most beautiful nations on earth, held the artistic, theatrical event of an underwater government meeting last month, to try to bring more attention to the threats of climate change. Now, they are getting more practical but still grabbing headlines — they are looking to build a wind farm that will generate 40% of the island nation’s electricity needs.
The wind farm plans were announced earlier this week. The project will include 30 turbines and is expected to provide the nation with 75 MW of power, powering the capital city, their international airport, and more!
In a recent international conference on ‘Climate Change: Technology Development & Transfer’ held in Delhi, the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh began his speech by stating that climate friendly and environmentally sound technologies should be viewed as global public goods.
Chaired by President M. Nasheed, the Government of Maldives recently concluded the world’s first ever underwater cabinet meeting. The small island nation of Maldives will perhaps be the first country to go under water, if predictions based on climate change models come true.
The underwater meeting was called to raise this concern and put pressure on the West to act NOW, and for a fair deal at COP in Copenhagen this December. A day after the event, extensively covered by the media (View on: CNN | BBC), the Government of India has announced the setting up of a National institute for long-term research on climate change.
Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed has told his cabinet members to get ready for an underwater cabinet meeting later this month.
Maldives is a collection of islands and atolls in the Indian Ocean that is less than 2 meters above sea level. Therefore, it is the first country expected to go underwater due to climate change.
A remarkable dragonfly migration stretching between 14,000 and 18,000 kilometers has been discovered which spans the Indian Ocean.
The migration is by far the longest known insect migration, dwarfing the 7,000km journey of monarch butterflies. Millions of dragonflies make the epic migration every year, which spans from India to the Maldives, the Seychelles, Mozambique, Uganda and back again.
Perhaps the only thing more amazing than the migration is that it has somehow dodged scientific discovery until now. “This just illustrates how little we still know about the natural world,” said Charles Anderson, discoverer of the mass migration.
In a paper published recently in the journal Conservation Biology, two scientists attempt to summarize all the available arguments both for and against scientists-as-advocates. Their conclusion, arrived at because of the determination that scientists are citizens first and scientists second, is that the scientific community should indeed be more involved in advocacy than it is. Climate change, to me, seems to be the ideal spot for this to take place.
The Age of Stupid has arrived after half a decade in the making. Franny Armstrong has made a new climate change documentary-drama that stars Pete Postlethwaite as an indie climate change refugee from 2055, that shares the tragedy of of global warming.
In addition to their screenings, they offer ways to help via their ‘not stupid‘ climate activism effort. They are truly trying to encourage folks to participate in lobbying politicians leading up to the talks in Copenhagen at the end of the year.
The pioneering new president of the Indian Ocean nation announces plans for his country - under grave threat from climate change - to go carbon-neutral in a decade. Written by Duncan Clark and shared with EcoWorldly as part of the Guardian Environment Network.
“We have promised the islanders that the project for long-term protection will start next year meaning as soon as possible in the new year,” said vice-president Dr Mohamed Waheed.
While Waheed and current president Mohamed Nasheed ran for office promising to address the issue, they now say the current budget leaves no money for action. However, Nasheed has begun saving cash to purchase a new homeland if the country does not survive rising sea levels.
The Government of the Maldives, a small island nation in the Indian Ocean, is looking at alternative ways to deal with the nation’s impending inundation.
Global sea level rise is a big problem for many of the world’s nations. With an average height above sea level of 1.5m and a maximum height of 4m the Maldives has a bigger problem than most. In their 2007 report the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecast that sea level rise is occurring and is speeding up. They also acknowledge that the amount of change varies from place to place. Some regions are seeing a rise, others a fall.
The governments of all small island nations under threat from these changes have been trying to come up with workable solutions. For example one solution under consideration by the Maldivian government involves building a protective sea wall around a several of islands and moving the entire population to a new protected home. This option has been dismissed however as it was thought to be prohibitively expensive.
This week at ZapRoot: The Maldives plan to buy a new homeland if global warming sinks their country. Honda unveils the FC Sport at the LA Auto Show. Go green for the holidays with our Holiday Gift Guide Part 1.
