Honey, I shrunk the Maldives

At the same time, of course, places and species disappear on this planet for reasons unrelated to humanity. For example, I suspect that a very great part of the Netherlands would have been gone long ago -- mostly as a result of natural erosion -- if it had not been for the truly remarkable efforts of some brilliant Dutch engineers, scientists, construction companies, and hard-working people doing often-dangerous jobs.

The situation in the Maldives is tragic and of course the wrong-headedness of too many powerful people will ensure that the Maldives won't be the LAST place to feel the tragedy by any means. But my hope is that, as in the Netherlands, we don't waste TOO much time shaking our heads in anger because the problem isn't going away. And I am sure there are already a number of good minds and good people thinking and acting with regard to what, if anything, can be done to mitigate the suffering of these people and to accomplish whatever relocation best fits the needs of these people within the parameters of the resources that can be brought to bear.

Because whatever we as a world community do for the Maldives CAN serve as a model for what we do elsewhere as this crisis continues to grow. We know only too well that even if the willfully ignorant and the naysayers "found the light" today, it would still be decades before we could begin to turn around the environmental impact of our past decisions and policies.

I know that I am already sitting down with my children a few minutes at a time, without trying to scare them, but just making sure that they are aware of the problems and that a certain flexibility is simply going to be necessary on their part if they want to prosper in the world we will be leaving them. Our little place in the Northern Rockies may not look the same when my kids approach retirement 50 years from now.

Whether we like it or not, adaptability is going to be one of the most important traits among those who will be placed in the middle of the coming threats.

I see sky's of blue, red roses too, oh what a wonderful world. The earth is resilient but humans thats another thing.

I'm sure the mass inlfux of tourists to disappearing islands and the infrastructure necessary to do it wouldn't contribute in any way to rising sea levels...hmmm

[[You might want to go see them if possible before they are gone.]]

Something the tourism industry has been pushing for decades.

Poor earth !

I tell you what it is, comfort zones. Most people don't want to leave their comfort zone to fix these problems. I am guilty too, I am not saying "oh I am perfect and everyone else sucks" but what I am saying, until we can all come together and make a final decision [together] to turn this around, the progress toward real solutions is not going to happen fast enough to stop this. Right now our country is based upon consumption. That means shop til you drop. Work, Shop, Sleep, and do it all over the next day.

What we are is little ant colonies. And in order to sustain this economy we have to have to move lots of products from the manufacture to the home to trash and in the process, we create masses of pollution.

Believe me, I totally understand. And it is so frustrating.

As long as people have access to things to entertain and escape into their own private little world, most people don't give a C. I see so much waste in the area I live in, it sickens me. I try to talk about things that matter to me in this regard and people don't want to listen. The planet will evolve and we as a species may not survive, but the planet will continue, maybe not like we would enjoy it, if we had taken care of it, but it will continue. Sorry for being so doom and gloom, but sometimes this stuff just gets to me.

Imagine having to move 386,000 residents to Sri Lanka, India or Australia. How could they move them to Australia when it too is feeling the harshest effects of drought? There wouldn't be enough resources for all of them, and I am sure those who already live there would not take too kindly to others coming in to use their resources if they are scarce. And also the economies of the countries they would be moved to would have to be considered as well as not separating families. They would need their own country...but where? This is surely a problem of global significance that we are unprepared for. It is sad enough to see the effects of global warming on these beautiful places let alone witness the effects it will have on people who have called these places their home.

That's beautiful and scary at the same time. They may be totally underwater in a few years.