Maldives is sinking. This sea level rise in this famous archipelago is already a reality today and in other island settlements of the Indian Ocean that have seen how entire communities are forced to leave their coastal homes to settle on higher levels. Now, a study by the University of East Anglia and TEDI-London in collaboration with Maldivian scientists, how to build new buildings and even new islands to deal with this growing threat in the archipelago.
Melé, the capital of the Maldives, is attracting more and more people every day. from small islands that are increasingly abandoned in search of a safe haven from rising sea levels. Therefore, the study, published now, focuses on how to move around the two largest islands so that they can reach the entire population of Maldives in the near future.
“Our research shows that in an extreme case, the entire population of the Maldives can live on only two islands built at significantly higher elevations. Professor Robert Nicholls, Director of the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, said: “It’s more than natural islands have to withstand sea level rise.”
But these two islands will be condemned in terms of landscape. “Of course these islands would look very different from the beautiful coastal landscapes we now see in tourist brochures. There will be highly urban areas with lots of high-rise buildings., as seen today in the capital city of Male. But many Maldivians now choose urban environments that provide a safe home,” he added.
Nicholls says that “additional raised islands can provide space for tourism and other economic activities when needed.”
In this way, confirming with researchers with substantial investment in engineering and government supportMaldivian people will now be able to stay in their country instead of having to migrate due to rising sea levels.
In the face of rising sea levels in island countries such as the Maldives, forced migration to other countries as environmental refugees is often the only way out. It has a population of 500,000 and continues to grow.
This situation caused by climate change is triggering many social problems such as cultural decline, loss of identity, lack of integration and job loss, as well as creating uncertainty about who will take these climate migrants.
Land removal from the sea and creation of new islands are already accepted practices in the Maldives. only two meters above sea level. Researchers suggest building taller islands up to twenty feet or more above sea level to guard against long-term sea level rise and storm risk.
It’s about these new artificial islands being able to accommodate populations fleeing others, who are slowly succumbing under the water.
They say the same strategy will apply to other island countries in the region, such as Miribati, Tuvalu or the Marshall Islands, not ignoring that even the coastal areas of the continent are affected by sea level rise.
Reference work: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2752-5295/acb4b3
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