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THE MALDIVES ARE SERIOUSLY THREATENED BY GLOBAL CLIMATE WARMING

 

The Regent Seven Seas Explorer docked in Malé, Maldives overnight.  I have not felt 100% since I boarded this ship.  It has been two weeks, and last night for the first time we remained in the same port.  I feel much better today because, I think, the ship is not moving.  It is probable that I will again revert to mild discomfort after we leave this afternoon, until December 12 when we arrive in Singapore, for we will never again stay in port overnight.

Mind you, I'm functional, just not my usual euphoric self.  I worry about that 53-day Seabourn cruise coming up this spring because it will never stop in any port overnight.  Maybe I'll need to find some medical preventative when I'm back home after this trip, but I hate to take pills or bother with patches.  

The usual advice flails.  From Carnival.  What does go natural mean?

How to Avoid Getting Seasick on a Cruise

  1. Pack Your Medicine
  2. Get a Good Night’s Sleep
  3. Remember to Eat
  4. Get Some Air
  5. Watch the Horizon
  6. Avoid Books and Screens
  7. Head to the Middle
  8. Try Acupressure
  9. Look Into Alternative Medicine
  10. Go Natural

In any case, we did take a 2-hour walking tour of Malé yesterday.  I mainly wanted to see how vulnerable the country is to global climate rise, for it is, with several islands of the Pacific, in grave danger.  The tour guide said that the whole island of this city was covered with more than a foot of water after that devastating 26 December 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake and Tsunami.  One island experienced a 13-foot amplitude tsunami and was totally devastated.  As you might know, the height of a tsunami depends on the geology of the seafloor approaching land.  I'll show photos of the walk at the end.  

Maldives has an average elevation of just under 5 feet, with the highest point less than 8 feet high.  IT IS THE WORLD'S LOWEST-LYING COUNTRY!!!  189 islands are occupied and the total population is 447,137, all Muslim.  I thought these islands were only shacks with resorts and not that many people.  Not so.  They have a huge port with tall buildings and an airport, with a new international airport in construction.  So they clearly are not planning to abandon their lands.  Tourism is their largest source of income, but if the sea level continues to rise, who would want to come here, especially as storms and cyclones can suddenly appear.

It is predicted that 89% of their islands will not be habitable by 2050, and could cease to exist by 2100.  Their problem?

  • To begin, 90% of the islands have already seen severe erosion.
  • 97% no longer has fresh groundwater, and survival means rainwater collection.
  • There is constant flooding from ocean storms.
  • Most of the protective coral reefs are crumbling, after a 2016 bleaching event.  These reefs are said to absorb 97% of wave energy.
  • Much of what they thought only a few years ago that would take until the end of this century are happening now.
  • 50% of the national budget is spent on adapting to climate change.
  • They are the poster children for climate survival and has been asking for international help since 2009.  After all, nations like the USA, China and India are responsible for their plight.
So what are they doing?
  • A new artificial island of Huhukalé.  
    • Began in 1997, now around 1.5 square miles, making it the fourth largest in the country.
    • Began by pumping sand from the seafloor unto a submerged coral platform, and is 7 feet high, twice that of Malé.  
    • Aready has a population of 50,000, with another 150,000 to come.
    • Thilafushi, a lagoon, has become a landfill, with Gulhifalhuea another reclamation project for new manufacturing and industrial space.
    • It is possible that coral can thus be induced to re-grow, strengthening these artificial islands.
  • Partnering with architecture firm Waterstudio, a plan to to create Maldives Floating City to hold 20,000 people and open in less than two years.
    • To be placed on a threatened island where the structure will rise when the sea rises.
    • 500 acres of space to contain 5000 homes at a cost of $250,000 each, plus a whole surrounding city.
    • Entirely solar-powered, using ocean water for air-conditioning.
    • I wonder if Blue Revolution Hawaii can play a role here?

Keep in mind that the Maldives problem is just an early warning, for:

So back to my tour of Male:
The last photo is the Hala Fruit also found in Hawaii.  A cat greeting, ultra-hot Ghost Peppers, same kind of fish as we see at home, plus rays.

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