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?
2 comments:
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.
I do like this poem. It is too bad that wildlife can't vote! -- barbara
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