The Maldives case study

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  • Sea Level Rise - The Maldives
    • Causes
      • thermal expansion of oceans
      • melting of west Antarctic ice sheet
      • complete melting of Greenland ice sheet
      • collapse _ melting of west world's glacier systems
    • areas vulnerable
      • low-lying island in pacific + indian oceans
      • World largest river deltas - Brahmaputra - River Ganges
      • areas that already lie close to sea level - east coast of England
    • Why difficult to predict?
      • difficult to estimate future GHG emissions
      • whether we adopt business as usual model
      • difficult to predict impact of thermal expansion of oceans + melting of ice sheets
    • Isostatic Change
      • change in the sea level due to change in amount of water in oceans
    • Eustatic Change
      • movement of land (loss or gain of mas) e.g. melting of ice sheet lead s to uplift
    • The Maldives
      • Impacts
        • islands will be uninhabitable after 20 years
        • salt water incursion
        • 80% of 1,200 islands are no more than 1m above sea level
        • flooding due to storm surges
          • destruction of setteled areas
        • infrastructure and houses washed away
        • weather becoming less predictable
          • due to alignment of stars no longer give guidance
      • Coping strategies
        • reconstructed islands
        • natural defenses - Coral reefs
        • Kandhol Hudoo - 60% of residents plan to evacuate over next 15 years
        • 3m sea wall ($63) protects 200 inhabited islands against short term impacts of tidal surges

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