THE MALDIVES – ENDANGERED OCEAN JEWELS

For the past few days we’ve been writing about places on the face of this Earth that might disappear before we all get a chance to see their beauty. We’ve started with Galapagos Islands. We took on some wonders like Taj Mahal and went far north to Glacier National Park. Ironically most of those places will disappear because so many want to see their beauty. We hope you enjoy the list of Top Ten Places to See Before They’re Gone as we continue with one of worlds most amazing places – the Maldives.

The Maldives, an island nation located in the northern Indian Ocean southwest of India, is a string of small coral islands with an average elevation of about one meter above sea level. For this reason, National Geographic and others call the nation “ground zero” for climate change. And while some may question the greenhouse effect or debate on the climate change and the rise of the sea level – the Maldives are the islands that face the danger in it’s true form.

In 2009, President Mohamed Nasheed and his ministers held an underwater cabinet meeting to highlight the concerns for this “sinking” nation. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, if water to were to rise a mere seven inches, the Maldives would be “unlivable.”

In the last few years, President Mohamed Nasheed of Maldives has given impassioned speeches, imploring the world to do something about climate change, a phenomenon that is hurtling his people toward homelessness and extinction.

Maldives is comprised of 1,190 tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, which average just 1.5 m in height above sea level, a dreamy resort vacation with miles of sandy beaches, turquoise reefs and welcoming palm trees. Already Nasheed has had to relocate people from 16 islands due to rising sea levels. As one of the first victims of man-made climate change, Nasheed has pledged to make the Maldives the first carbon-neutral country within the next decade, with the help of wind farms and solar technology. Wind turbines may be a blight on a sandy, white beach horizon, but better that than no beach at all, no?

With 600,000 visitors to the Maldives each year, tourism is one of the major exports for this Indian island nation — but not necessarily for long. Rising sea levels will see many of the Maldives’ prime tourist spots disappear under the ocean. Last month the country’s President held an underwater cabinet meeting designed to highlight the threat of climate change. And though when you look like at the spectacular pictures you may view the islands like a perfect paradise destination, it may not be long when pictures will be the only thing you can view. Let’s hope this can be avoided.

Check out our Pinterest Board Dedicated entirely to the Top Ten Places that you should see before they’re gone. We’ve collected there spectacular pictures from all the places we’ve posted about! Make sure to follow this board while we will continue to collect those amazing visuals further!