The most pressing issue in the Maldives is the impact of climate change. The Maldives, being low-lying atolls, are at high-risk of being swallowed up by the ocean due the rising sea levels. As global warming continues to worsen, the polar ice caps will continue melting, which will cause the sea levels to keep rising. Despite the Maldives’, and other nations like it, lack of culpability in climate change, they will continue to face the immediate effects of warming global temperatures. In essence, the Northern countries that are mostly responsible for the Anthropocene we have now entered will be able to skirt the effects for a while longer than the smaller, non-guilty Southern countries.
The Maldives is currently preparing several alternatives so that their citizens may continue their lives in safety, even as the climate worsens. For example, floating cities that can withstand rising sea levels have been proposed. These will be built within the surviving atolls with a protective barrier of mangroves or sand bars so that the worst of the waves may be abated. They have also called on other nations to reduce their consumption and provide environmental aid so that we may reduce the impacts of climate change in our near future.
