Maldive Islands

Honey, I Sunk the Maldives
Environmental changes could wipe out some of the world's most well-known travel destinations


As if an eroding worldwide economy weren’t
enough to depress travel this year,
some hot spots are facing even scarier scenarios:
sinking, melting, or literally vanishing from the face of the earth.
Thanks to global warming and tourist wear and tear,
locales from the Galápagos Islands to Croatia’s
Dalmatian coast are breaking down.

Maldive Islands
Country: Republic of Maldives
At stake: $490 million

On the Ground: This chain of islands in the Indian Ocean is about three feet above sea level, and scientists fear it could be submerged by 2050. A $63 million buffer built in the 1990s hasn’t solved the problem, so the government is in talks to relocate all 386,000 of its residents to either Sri Lanka, Australia, or India. That would end the Maldives’ tourism industry—more than 600,000 people visit annually—which accounts for 30 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

By the numbers: The Maldives could be completely submerged as early as 2050.



By Megan Angelo
yahoo