The South Island] Learn about a country sinking due to climate change through a documentary about the Maldives.
Hi everyone, this is Minami.
Even if you have heard of the southern country called Maldives?
When you hear of the southern island, is it a resort area? There are many people who only have an image of this place. It is indeed a very beautiful place with a beautiful sea.
Do you know where it is?
That's right. As you can see from the above image, the Maldives Islands are located underneath India. As you can see from the eye catching image, the Maldives is a place where the wealthy gather for their vacations. It's a resort area. By the way, if you want to fly there from Japan, it seems that you can change planes in China.
This resort is actually on the verge of disappearing now. >. I saw a documentary on the Maldives this time and wanted to share it with you, so I'm writing this article I'll take it!
Table of Contents
1: What is the Maldives? What's happening now?
Here is a little basic information about the Maldives. <The Maldives, officially known as the Republic of Maldives, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean that is home to about 200 The people live on the islands. For more information on the history of the country and other details, please visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here, but we're currently President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is in power, and his government is said to be a dictatorship He is there. He's been president twice, but the first time a president was democratically elected was the previous president It's time for Mohammed Nasheed.
To elaborate, the Maldives has been in existence since around 2005, more than 10 years ago. So you were told that the island was going to sink from the
The documentary film President of the South Island - Sinking In "Maldives-"", you can see the video of the former president of Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed. It can be done.
I hope that others will watch this documentary and that they will be able to see it too! I'm writing this article because I think it's a great idea.
What I like about this documentary film is that it just interviews the people of the island and the intellectuals. This is not an interview.
This is a rare opportunity to hear the thoughts of Mohamed Nasheed, who was particularly conscious about the environment at the time Picture.
The best part of the film is the moments where we get a glimpse of his daily life. The people who think about the environment are not the unreachable adults who think that world peace is their only hope. He tells us that he is not, first of all, a normal human being.
I think there are very few media that allow us to hear the true feelings of the leaders of the countries involved.
Incidentally, he, Mohammed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president, has led a tumultuous life, having been tortured twice by the previous and incoming presidents.
At the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15) held in Denmark in 2009, the The main focus of the meeting was on the post-2013 greenhouse gas reduction targets that are not stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol. At this point, the Maldives was trying to make a major push for global environmental policy. The documentary describes the negotiations at this international conference.
Climate change is a word you hear a lot, but if you're in Japan, it doesn't really seem to be a real word. You may hear that. We are working with the understanding that climate change is currently happening internationally, but again, all countries are in the process of I am not affirming its existence. It may be arguable, but on the other hand, it's also true that the Maldives is sinking Truth.
The Maldives is not alone in being affected by rising sea levels.
Although Tuvalu is also an island nation, its situation is more serious than that of the Maldives. The people living there are called "refugees".
2: What kind of damage is caused by a rise in sea level?
As for what damage will occur if the sea level rises, the following are possible
First of all, it would be flood damage.
When the sea level rises, i.e., the area of the sandy beach decreases and tends to flood when it rains, etc. . Although they are used to flooding to some extent because they are an island nation, the extent of the flooding is still very severe. When it happens, you begin to have problems.
The specific damages of the floods are, for example, the mixing of drinking water with seawater, the loss of electrical and other life infrastructure. Stop, etc.
The Maldives has previously asked other countries to invest in dykes and other facilities, but this is only a temporary reprieve and is hardly a long-term measure.
Furthermore, the second major reason is that there will be less or no place to live.
If more and more severe flooding occurs, it will still erode your house. In that case, the residents have to change their living environment.
Moving is not a half-hearted thing to do. I wouldn't want to be asked to move somewhere else because of the circumstances of my environment. Mm!
In the case of a small country such as the Maldives, an entire island in crisis means that the country of birth and upbringing is gone. I'm with you. I think the issue of losing identity will also come up.
Although there is still little damage from floods in Japan, it is important to be aware of the risk of flooding in case the number of natural disasters caused by climate change increases.
3: The reason the island is disappearing is due to the rise in sea level caused by melting ice
So how can such a small country be said to be affected by climate change?
That's because of the melting of the world's ice due to the recent rise in temperatures.
Global Environment Center, sea level rise is not as common as in Antarctica and the Arctic The major cause is not the melting of areas of ice already floating on the ocean, but the major cause is not the melting of The snow on the ground has already melted, and the snow will flow out to the sea, which will cause a buildup of snow.
A research paper was published in 2017 that showed that the percentage of impact of Greenland's ice sheet melt on sea level rise increased from 5 percent to 25 percent.
It's hard to imagine it actually flowing out, but it looks like the snow is melting forever in Hokkaido.
4: How is the Maldives currently coping with the situation?
Currently, the Maldives is building a man-made island called "Furumare" as a countermeasure to the current situation where the island is disappearing. We are trying to deal with this. However, over time, this artificial island will raise the same issue again if the sea level rises further It is.
Speaking of artificial islands, we have them in Dubai and Japan. The decision to build artificial islands is a good one to alleviate the status quo, but I don't think it will last long in the long run. I can't say.
If you are interested in climate change and sea level rise issues after reading this, please watch the documentary first! Please take a look at it. You'll get a better idea of the atmosphere. Please continue to look into international conferences and other events around the world!
Key references and other information:
The Asahi Shimbun (March 21, 2018) "Maldives Artificial Islands to Accommodate Migration, Area 2 Expansion proceeds to double"
John Schenck (2014) "President of the South Island - The Sinking Maldives"
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