What it feels like to belong to the Maldives; The fate of small island nations in the 21st century.6/11/2017 By Saaid Ali © Shahee Illyas, Wikipedia I remember waking up to the fresh colourful rays of the sunshine on Friday mornings, eager to linger around on the white sandy beachside of my small island city. I would dive into the vast crystal clear blue sea with swimming goggles on my eyes. The beauty of the coral reefs and the colours of the underwater creatures which resides in these corals never ceases to amaze me. It was my days of endless happiness. I would often come out of the seaside and build sand castles with my cousins, sun kissed under the mild rays of the morning sun, calm winds brushing against my body. This is the place I call home. This has been for a long time my idea of peace, happiness, and paradise. This is the Maldives. The first day I moved to Manchester, I realized how small and perhaps how insignificant the Maldives was. With roughly a population of 350,000 (Manchester city is more populous), and a land area of 298 kilometre squared scattered as tiny islands on the Indian Ocean, it is, in fact hard to spot the country on the world map. When I tell people the highest point on the Maldives is just above 1 meters, they are absolutely astonished. And when I tell them it’s likely to vanish from the face of planet Earth within the next 50 years due to sea level rise, they are gobsmacked. © Silery, Beautiful Places to Visit The phenomenon of Global Warming is no stranger to the 21st Century. It has been happening since the dawn of Industrial Revolution. One of the adverse effects of Global Warming is sea level rise. For most of the world, this might not be a huge problem. But small island nations such as Maldives and Fiji are fearing for the day they might no longer exist. The inhabitants of the Maldives have been living in this paradise of a country for thousands of years peacefully. However, recent changes in global climate due to the effects of Global Warming means that it is engrossed in adverse environmental changes. Erosion of vulnerable islands has already taken place since the 1980s. Coral reefs has been bleaching due to the increase in average temperature of the world’s ocean. Consequently, this leads to the death of a whole ecosystem of indigenous marine life. The 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami that swept the whole South Asian region was a wakeup call to the dangers of Global Warming. It resulted in 22 islands of the Maldives being completely and permanently submerged under the ocean. These islands used to be the only homes of some Maldivians. The nation was wholly flooded. At the end of the day two questions springs to my mind; Who is to blame and what can the world do about it?
For the large part of this problem, the rise of Industrial Revolution along with the discovery of crude oil is to blame. The world was reaping the benefits of crude oil, oblivious to the harm it is doing to earth’s fragile environment. Small Island nations has little to no power in regulating environmental policies of large nations. However, recent developments in the changes in environmental policies in accord with the 2015 UN Climate change Paris Summit means the industrial world will slowly be making changes to move away from crude oil based energy to renewable energy sources. The future of small island nations such as Maldives and Fiji solely lie on the political decisions taken by the developed world. To this day I am uncertain of the existent of my very own country within the next century.
1 Comment
|