Maldives may be submerged in water by the end of this century
How does global warming occur?
Air pollutants like CO2 collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the earth’s surface. They trap heat and cause the planet to get hotter. This is called the greenhouse effect caused by greenhouse gases such as CO2 and methane. Human activities such as burning fossils fuels i.e. coal and oil puts more greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. An increase of greenhouse gases can mean more heat is trapped by the Earth’s atmosphere resulting in the Earth to warm up.
Due to global warming there has been a rise in sea level. This has occurred due to the Earth slowly getting warmer, warm enough to melt glaciers and ice sheets world wide increasing the water in the ocean. As well as this due to the heat, the volume of the ocean is expanding as the water warms this is called thermal expansion. All these factors are causing a rise in sea level with an average of 3.6mm per year.
How will the Maldives be affected?
The Maldives is the flattest country in the world with 80% of its 1,200 islands lying less than 1 meter above average sea level this means its extremely vulnerable to the rising sea levels. With a population of approximately 530,000 people its important that something is done about global warming and the rising sea level as sea levels could rise by half a meter by 2100 or even a meter if nothing is done to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Currently the Maldives have introduced several methods to reduce the affects of climate change for example coastal protection tools i.e. concrete blocks along the shoreline to prevent additional coastal erosion.