This past week, the governing council of the Maldives, an island chain in the Indian Ocean, planned an undersea meeting to highlight the threat that global warming poses for their island nation. Located about 430 miles southwest of Sri Lanka, the Maldives have a mean elevation below 4 feet, making it the lowest country on Earth. As our planet's climate continues to warm, polar ice will melt and sea level will gradually rise; any low lying, coastal areas will be flooded and, as in the case of the Maldives, become uninhabitable. Furthermore, global warming may have a significant impact on precipitation patterns across the globe, posing a threat to agriculture, ranching and food production.
Like the polar bear of the Arctic, the Maldivian culture may be a victim of global warming, reinforcing the fact that man, like other species, is not immune to natural catastrophe. While current scientific evidence suggests that human activity has played a significant role in the current phase of global warming, Earth's climate has gyrated over its 4.6 billion year history; just within the past 2 million years, continental glaciation has occurred four times and interglacial periods have brought climatic conditions much warmer than those anticipated in the coming decades. Indeed, sea levels have been at least 25 feet higher than they are today.
While we must make every effort to reduce our impact on natural ecosystems, global climate will continue to change, whether induced by supervolcanoes, asteroid strikes, continental drift or fossil fuel consumption. As a consequence, all species, including humans, face potential extinction.
