The Maldives is 1,200 islands scattered across the Indian Ocean, none of them more than a few feet above sea level. It is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It is also one of the first that will go underwater.
Sea level rise isn’t dramatic. It’s incremental — a few millimetres a year, barely worth mentioning until you live somewhere the highest point is a metre above the ocean. Then incremental is everything. Storm surges that used to miss now hit. Freshwater turns saline. Their government has even held cabinet meetings underwater to make the point, and started buying land in other countries for when the time comes to grieve.
The plan isn’t to fight the ocean. The plan is to leave.
Light this candle. It smells exactly like the thing we’re losing.
