The Maldives

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The Maldives: a group of islands just off Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. This tropical paradise sees thousands of tourists visiting its shores per year. There is just one problem: the highest point of the Maldives is just six feet above sea level, which means that any rise in water level at all would spell disaster for the 1,190 islands and their inhabitants. That is why for the last decade or so the Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed worked vigorously in the fight against global warming while overcoming the tyranny of the previous government. Although this could be the end of this beautiful country Nasheed is not giving up yet.
The Maldives are located at 315 degrees north and 73 degrees east. They are just off Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. They are very flat and tropical with white sand beaches crawling with tourists. The total area is about the size of Washington DC. The region is very tropical and can be prone to monsoons from November to March. People mainly get around by boat from island to island and on bikes on the islands. They do not have an industrial section because of lack of land. This means that they do not contribute to global warming too much.The maldives main industry comes from the tourist that visits the beautiful shores every year.
Although today the Maldives are a beautiful paradise that sees more than 900,000 tourists per year it was not always so peaceful. For almost 30 years president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a president that some called a dictator, for his unchallenged elections that he had won almost to effortlessly, had his way in the Maldives. A big example of how he abused his power was with jails. He would arrest anyone who opposed him. He would torture them till they died then tossed...

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...it on climate change began. Nasheed gave an inspiring speech to the population that told them not to give up no matter what happened. The next day negotiations for a deal began. It became quickly apparent that it would not be easy for to get and agreement that would satisfy everyone. Despite trying very hard to negotiate a deal China and India refused. The next day was much of the same with China not agreeing. Finally on the third day the countries came to agreement that called for, not required, a lowering carbon output from all countries. This was a solid step forward in the fight against global warming.
Nasheed continued to fight against global warming until he was forced to resign by a group still loyal to Gayoom. Gayoom’s brother took over and although getting back to carbon neutral is on hold now Nasheed will do everything he can to help the Maldives.

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