The Maldives -- what? where? ever heard of it? The world is a big place and many tiny places aren't familiar. The Maldives is the smallest nation in Asia, both in geographic size and population. It is 26 atolls [coral islands] in the Indian ocean -- beautiful! Like wonderful resorts -- EXCEPT ... no part of them is over 6 feet above sea level. This tiny Republic has a population at last count of 328,536 [2012]. The President is currently shopping around the area, looking for a place to purchase so that the entire population can move. Because, with oceans rising, they expect the islands to be underwater in as little as a year. Who can deny climate change? Who can understand that a whole nation must move because their land will disappear? That's today's fact to think about.
Here is a poem for today, a short one by Robert Creeley (American, 1926--)
LIKE THEY SAY
Underneath the tree on some
soft grass I sat, I
watched two happy
woodpeckers be dis-
turbed by my presence. And
why not I thought to
myself, why
not?
I saw the president on The Daily Show and I simply couldn't believe the dilemma of a president trying to buy a country because his is sinking. It sounds like the stuff of science fiction. My heart goes out to all of them.
ReplyDeleteI do like this poem. It is too bad that wildlife can't vote! -- barbara
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