April 06, 2006

The sinking Maldives

A vacation paradise of breathtaking beauty is disappeararing into the sea. Off the Indian subcontinent lies the island nation of Maldives, a chain of more than 1,000 little coral islands-some just big enough for a solitary resort. A midst this beauty is a growning concern that the rising sea level threatens these low-lying islands with extinction. Already floods are a problem on some islands. The government, blaming global warming and the thining ozone layer, has launched a research vessel to study the situation and ease worries