Coasts

Facts:

• Population - about 300 000
• No. of islands - 1100 (199 inhabited)
• Av. island height - 1.5m above sea level, 80 percent below 1m
• Island will be completely submerged in about 50 - 100 years

Economic impacts:

• Loss of tourism - largest industry in the Maldives, flooding will cut-off travel industries (planes e.c.t) this would massively reduce the country's income
• Distributed fishing industry - fish are the Maldives largest export, flooding will damage fish processing plants - reducing fish exports and income

Social impacts:

• Houses damaged or destroyed - make entire communities homeless
• Less freshwater available - supplies of fresh water is already low, some islands may have to result in rainwater due to pollution of salty water

Environmental:

• Loss of beaches - coastal flooding wears away beaches - destroys habitats and exposes the land behind the beach (leds to further flooding)
• Loss of soil - coastal floofing could easily wash away the soil layer - most plants won't be able to grow

Political:

• Changes to long-term plans - gov. thinking about buying land (e.g. India and Australia) to move people who live in The Maldives
• Changes to environmental policies - The Maldives have pledged to become carbon neutral