The Maldives is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean South East of India
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What is the population of the Maldives?
the 390,000 residents are spread over 192 islands. 1/3 of the residents live in the capital city Male.
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Description of the land
The land of the Maldives is extremely flat, average height is just 1.5m above sea level with 80% of land being less than 1 meter above sea level
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What is causing the coastal flooding?
Rising sea levels due to global warming, IPPC predicted that the sea levels will rise by 88cm by the year 2100 making the Maldives uninhabitable
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What are the two effects of global warming?
Heating oceans & melting ice
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What is meant by heating oceans?
Increased global temperatures heats the oceans and cause the water to expand (thermal expansion) which increases the volume of water
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What is meant by melting ice?
Ice stored on the land melts and flows into the sea causing a rise in the level of water
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Economic effects of the Maldives
Reduction in the number of tourists, coral reef being affected, fishing industry
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Reduction in the number of tourists
Tourism accounts for 30% of the country's GDP. 90% of the gov revenue comes from tourist related taxes. Tourists arrive in the Maldives by aeroplane however these are vulnerable to floods.
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Coral reef being affected
Beaches are eroding at a rapid rate, huge waves can also cayse a lot of damage to the coral reef, making the Maldives look less attractive to tourists.
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Fishing industry
The second most important industry is fishing, for food and exporting it. Violent storms can sometimes flood inland which threatens the fish processing factories nearby. This leads to unemployment increasing
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Social effects of the Maldives
Homelessness, Water supplies, desalination
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Homelessness
Many people's homes already been lost and will need to rebuild their homes on land further away from the coast which is both difficult and expensive
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Water supplies
Water supplies in the Maldives come from rainwater and underground supplies. Coastal floods could easily pollute the underground water will salt creating water shortages
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Desalination
The residents would have to rely exclusively on rainwater which would cause shortages or the government would need to be built very expensive desalination plants to meet water demands
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Environment effects of the Maldives
Turtle species, fish species, trees
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Turtle species
The Maldives are surrounding by sandy beaches which is important for nesting grounds for endangered turtle species like the green turtle or the leather back turtle. Coastal floods erode the beaches and destroy turtle nesting grounds.
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Fish species
Shallow tropical seas are home to over 2000 fish species so if there are violent storms it can damage the coral reef
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Trees
Inland trees and bushes grow in thin soil, just 20 cm deep. Floods erode the soil and pollute the ground with salt so many trees and bushes die
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Political effects of the Maldives/ Management
Committed to being Carbon neutral by 2020, temporary ways to protect its island and people from floods; relocation of population by buying land in other countries
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The country is committed to being Carbon neutral by 2020
This means it will no longer add extra CO2 to the atmosphere, in aim to achieve this the government is investing in 100% energy
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The government is looking to find temporary ways to protect its islands and people from floods
The Maldives government is building a man made island that can house up to 150,000 residents at risk of sea level rises by protecting the most vulnerable parts of Maldives with flood defences. Male- 3m wall costing $60 million paid by Japans gov
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The government is looking to buy land in countries so that the population can be relocated
The government has approached governments in other countries such as India and Australia and asked about buying land so he could move the Maldivian population completely
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
What is the population of the Maldives?
Back
the 390,000 residents are spread over 192 islands. 1/3 of the residents live in the capital city Male.
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