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Floating islands could save the sinking Maldives

By | August 8, 2012, 11:07 AM PDT

Climate change has not been kind to the Maldives. Sitting an average of just five feet above sea level, the tiny island nation scores the distinction of being the lowest country on Earth and because of rising seas, it runs the risk of being completely uninhabitable by 2100.

To alter the country’s scary fate, however, the Maldivian government has teamed up with Dutch architectural firm, Dutch Docklands International, to replace the sinking land with artificial “floating” islands.

Tethered to the ocean floor by cables, the structures will stay above water no matter how high sea levels reach and unlike man-made islands of sand and rubble, the new structures won’t have as many adverse effects on the environment.

Popular Science explains:

In the Netherlands, the company has already built floating islands for prisons and housing from slabs of concrete and polystyrene foam. For the Maldives, it will anchor similar structures to the seabed using cables or telescopic mooring piles, making landforms that are stable even in storms. The design disturbs only a small patch of the seafloor while preserving natural currents. And many smaller islands are more ecologically sound than one large one because they cast smaller shadows on the water, minimizing the impact on sea life.

While current plans include one island for luxury housing and another for a golf course, the company is in the midst of plans to construct islands with affordable housing in the near future.

[via io9 via Popular Science]

Images: Waterstudio

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Sarah Korones

About Sarah Korones

Sarah Korones was a contributing editor for SmartPlanet from 2012 to 2013.

Sarah Korones

Sarah Korones

Contributing Editor

Sarah Korones is a freelance writer based in New York. She has written for Psychology Today and Boston's Weekly Dig. She holds a degree from Tufts University.

Follow her on Twitter.

Sarah Korones

Sarah Korones

Sarah Korones does not have financial holdings that would influence how or what she covers.

She writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

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0 Votes
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Please stop the panic. The Maldives are not sinking.
They are polluting themselves into becoming the worlds largest toxic dump.

They have corrupted much of their limited freshwater wells with salt water intrusion through poor water management.

They have polluted much of their remaining freshwater with poorly managed human waste disposal.

There are big problems in the Maldives, but they are not sinking.

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2009/12/why-the-maldives-arent-sinking/

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/03/19/despite-popular-opinion-and-calls-to-action-the-maldives-is-not-being-overrun-by-sea-level-rise/

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/02/08/the-maldives-is-sinking-and-we-arent-talking-about-sea-level/
Posted by Hates Idiots
8th Aug
+2 Votes
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Both sides say they are telling the truth.
I don't know where things really stand and I think I'm in the majority. However mankind has had a profound effect on this planet and not a lot of it have been positive especially the last hundred years. From reading the 3 links above I don't think any light has been shed other than "he said, she said".

>> http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2009/12/why-the-maldives-arent-sinking/

Nils-Axel Mrner seems to have a creditability gap. So I wouldn't be so quick to use this reference. The other 2 links seem to conflict within themselves with the third one dealing more with their internal problems.

If they use changes in waterflows, etc, to say the water levels are dropping then guess what. Those flows can change again. Mothernature doesn't care about some theory by some self proclaimed expert. She is in it for the long haul. Time will tell and if its the wrong answer I hope people have made a down payment on a boat.
Posted by wingnut1024
8th Aug
+2 Votes
+ -
What credibility gap?
Just because he is a scientist who is not drinking the global warming cool-aid he has no credibility? Such obsessive thinking is part of why global warming proponents lose credibility with me.

He has far more technical and hands on knowledge of the situation in the Maldives than many of the physicists who claim to be global climate experts.

And you completely missed the point of the third link.

Their internal problems are why they are begging for money. Their money woes have nothing to do with managing problems brought on by rising seas caused by global warming.

But the perceived threat of global warming induced flooding is a better begging point in the halls of the UN than saying WE ARE A BUNCH OF CORRUPT IDIOTS WHO ARE TRASHING OUR COUNTRY.
Posted by Hates Idiots
Updated - 9th Aug
0 Votes
+ -
Begging.
Point taken.
Posted by wingnut1024
9th Aug
+3 Votes
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This is why I think it is all a scam.
Myself and others have been saying for years carbon credits were a useless scam. Intended to make money while emissions increased.

Here is the admission.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/world/asia/incentive-to-slow-climate-change-drives-output-of-harmful-gases.html?pagewanted=all
Posted by Hates Idiots
Updated - 8th Aug
+4 Votes
+ -
Am I (nearly) alone in observing...
...that the economy of the Maldives is completely dominated by tourism? Tourism is the only reason that the vast majority of people who live there get to live there and have anything above a stone-age standard of living.

The tourists who bring their money to support the economy of the Maldives have to travel thousands of miles, usually by jet aircraft burning vast amounts of CO2-emitting fossil fuels. And then, most take fossil-fueled-powered boats the final miles to their dive locations for their precious few hours of under-water time. For those who are fortunate enough to already live there, their CO2 impact isn't any better. Nearly everything they need to survive, including food and fuel is brought via aircraft or by diesel or oil-powered shipping.

If the residents of the Maldives honestly believe that CO2 is solely responsible for ultimately sinking their islands, then I think they have the moral obligation to either revert to a completely carbon-free existence, (which means giving up the tourist trade) or leave. Demanding that the rest of the world pay them money so that they can continue with their lifestyle unabated is simply self-serving and hypocritical. And shame on the rest of the world for falling for this.
Posted by JohnMcGrew@...
Updated - 9th Aug
0 Votes
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Those guys should use some OTEC, they are in the right area
If they build some OTEC plants, they would have free energy. Planes would use fuel to get the tourists there, but the energy there would be free. see here.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversion
Posted by Sarah Jumel
9th Aug
0 Votes
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And yet...
...almost everything they need just to survive will still need to be shipped in literally thousands of miles.
Posted by JohnMcGrew@...
9th Aug
0 Votes
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SEA LEVEL RISE IS NOT A MYTH FOR ALL THAT LIVE ON THE COAST
Read well and study on your own after you have read this.

The Coast Beach Sand Line is vanishing from every island on earth. Even for hundreds of miles in Australia, India, and yes The United States of America.

Now if only the governments around the world had made laws to save the forest as they did to save the coral reefs.



This is not a game or joke our Sun gives off a Solar Wind all day year round if you live in the State of Alaska you see it in the sky above what a sight it is going through our Earths Magnet Polls of the North and the South, North Poll. Its called the Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis.



The day will come when you will be able to see it all over Earth as in the year 1859 Solar Flare, It was the largest in 500 years. Two Astronomers Hodgson and Carrington told the World that the Solar Flare made a Geomagnetic Storm reach Earth in hours not days. Back then it gave new meaning to Reach For The Skies from Telegraph Operators. For hours sparks flew from the key board. Even after the Batteries were disconnected. Nov 3 and 4, 2003 had a X40+ Class Solar Flare.



Our Suns UV Rays will get stronger as each passing day goes by, read and i will tell you why.



The Great big forest have be stripped from most of the Earth for Greed of Money by the Wicked. The trees are our Main Source of Oxygen on this Plant.
The Forest Trees scrubs the Pollution out of the air and makes Oxygen from the rain and dirt that it grows in.



The Forest Trees do more than just make Oxygen they stop Soil Erosion, just Look at the 1930 Dust Bowl. Greed by our Government taxes led farmers to clear cut all their Forest and farm all the land they were being Tax on. They had to farm it to pay for the Taxes. Why leave the Trees when food crop makes Money. This did not Help the Depression that effected most all Worldwide. This year 2012 more than 100 million will suffer from Malnutrition lack of food and Dehydration lack of water. Many will not make it and die!



Soon many will run out of Safe Drinking Water from pollution going into the worlds water supply.





In the United States of America alone more than 45 Million Americans Received Food Stamps and that number is going up every day every year for more than 3 years in a row now.



The Pollution and CO2 Carbon Dioxide go into the Tree Bark as a shield from most bugs so they do not eat the tree.



Less Forest less Oxygen this is why the moon. That has no Oxygen is very cold on the side without Sun Light, And hot as ever on the side with Sun Light. Way too cold and too hot to live there. You would need at least 10 times the Energy we use on Earth to even live there and life on the Moon would be very short.



With no blank of Oxygen to lessen or reduce the Suns UV Rays and Solar Wind they are deadly there on our Moon. Every Mt. Climber and Aircraft Pilot knows the higher you go the thinner the Oxygen and colder it gets.



Just spend a night on a Mt. top above 13,000 feet with no Sun Light and you will see or should i say feel the cold stinging any of your exposed skin. If you are new to Mt. Climbing stay below 10,000Ft. The Astronauts and the Cosmonauts and Fighter Pilots that i have been with for years know this very well, and the Radiation Hazards to humans at High Altitudes.



Soon the Suns Solar Wind and UV rays will be way to strong for most to go out in the Sun Light for even a short time. The Geomagnetic Storm to come and the Bad Weather Storms well you have not seen nothing yet and the Sea Level is Rising the Oceans. Many Millions have been affected by Floods in China and Pakistan just last year. In 2005 Over a Thousand dead in New Orleans flood, and the list going on. The sounds and rumbling of Volcanoes Around Earth are Waking Up at a Alarming rate.



And there shall be famines, and pestilences, and Earthquakes, in divers places such as was not from the beginning of the Creation.



The last 30 years On Earth we have broke all High Temp Records and the temp it is still going up. All the Worlds Ice Glacier are melting at an Accelerating Rate. The Glaciers and Polar Ice Caps store more water than all the Fresh Water Lakes on Earth. Many of them are drying up or water levels are going down past the lowest point every recorded.



The Bad Weather Storms now are Babies compared to what is to come.

They will get even bigger and worse less Oxygen the more UV Rays to the Earth and more Water molecules will evaporate and go up into the Earths Atmosphere. Less Oxygen the colder without sun light and hotter with it.



The Sky full of more water vapor molecules, more snow in the winter and more Flash Floods in the Summer. All earth will see way more fires and the Deserts are growing larger.



If every living person on Earth were to Plant A Tree Today we might have a chance.



The Earths Atmosphere Blanket surrounding it protects life on Earth as Our Lord and GOD will all that seek Him.



Then it is written when the tree is full it is harvest time. All the Earth will someday burn away.



This is all Foretold in the Bible Read it
and may our Lord Bless all that do so.



The Lords Little Helper
Paul Felix Schott

solardowork@yahoo.com
KI4-AEX



P.S.
2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the Earth and its works will be burned up.



GOD Bless You and Your Love ones
Give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ every day.

Read

Matthew 24: 30-33



Earth is at its Limits

MANY OF US IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY HAVE BEEN SAYING SOME OF THIS FOR YEARS


The United Nations is now taking a serious look into "Earth's Limits" Earth will very soon be at its Limits of no return for many things including all life on Earth.

If we keep going at this rate we will not have another 20 years to go back to Rio De Janeiro to play. Most all in the Scientific Community said this 20 years ago at the last time Leaders set up this meeting in Rio De Janeiro. Of course on the Tax payers money, and of course they said about the same thing again we need to do something!

There is enough Energy from our Sun to Power all are needs on Earth and more. The richest on Earth are doing just that Building Solar Power Plants at a record pace.



Solar Energy

The Fastest growing energy on Earth.



Albert Einstein 100 years ago showed the World it could get
Free Energy, Electric from the SUN. (THE PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECT).
Posted by Paul Felix Schott
Updated - 9th Aug
0 Votes
+ -
Here is a solution.
Tow this over and beach it between a few islands. Problem solved.

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/19243716/massive-rock-raft-found-floating-off-new-zealand
Posted by Hates Idiots
13th Aug
+1 Vote
+ -
Ok wiseass! That is a lot of small pumice hunks.
Now if they could be corraled and dragged to the Maldives they could be added to concrete to make nice lightweight floaties . . . . The people of the Maldives could live on floating islands---with OTEC. Check it out.
Posted by Sarah Jumel
13th Aug
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