Week 13: Coastal Erosion
The Maldives is made up of about a thousand islands, meaning they are quite susceptible and vulnerable to coastal erosion and the destruction of their land/homes that come with it. Looking at this country's coastal erosion, more than 90% of islands within this country have been affected by some level of erosion, and being islands, every inch of land they have is considered vital. There are a couple main factors contributing to this happening. The one that seems to be speeding up this process the most is global warming/climate change. As the temperatures warm, so do the oceans and frozen glaciers. This effectively creates more water in our oceans, and since that water has no where to go, it pushes onto the shorelines, breaking down the land and sand previously there. This country also having less than a five-foot elevation is another big problem. With such low elevation, there is nothing protecting or blocking the water from reaching the land. This...