Radical proposal underway after hundreds of homes lost

Rising tides continue to cause mayhem for citizens living in the Maldives. This month 3 more islands were submerged bringing the total to 18 islands lost this year, a new terrifying record.

Due to careful management and preparation however, these islands were evacuated earlier this year and there has been no loss of life.

While the Khilafa has offered to resettle citizens, many people have decided to stay. Three years ago an advisory body was set up to consult with the people andformulate strategies to respond to the changing climate situation. Their findings and ultimate response was to support an ambitious task to protect the 5 most heavily populated islands. This project, expected to take 10 years, uses new technology to install pylons under each island and raise them in response to rising tides. While many individuals were skeptical of the project, preliminary results have been positive with the 5 cities currently safe fromflooding.

Local woman Shamira Tar, previously an IT consultant who gave up the desk job to become a commercial diver, praised the undertaking and said:

A lot of people have resettled away from the Maldives, but my family couldn’t move away from the ocean. It’s in our bones and we hope to die here like our parents and their parents. While the idea of raising an entire island above the increasing water line at first seemed strange, we all agree that this is a great step forward in preserving our culture and land.

To continue in assisting the citizens of the Maldives, heavy restrictions have been placed around the islands to protect the local population from over fishing. For the last 16 months the Royal Navy has patrolled the region to deter international fishing trawlers and commercial fishing operations which routinely decimate local fishing populations. Already this year the navy has arrested and confiscated 12 fishing vessels from various countries. Admiral Zheng He of the HMS Yunus, the flagship of the southern oceaninc region, believes the operation gives naval officers a unique opportunity to “serve citizens of the Khalifa in a non-combative role”:

Most of the men and women in the navy spend their days training for combat operations however this unique mission has given naval officers a rare chance to take on new skills, particularly as we use high-tech weapons systems to confront non-militarised units during non-violent confrontations.

After the failure of developed nations to respond to climate change, particularly during the first quarter of the 21st century, the global weather patterns have changed and entered a new unpredictable phase. Sea levels have risen by over 40cm in the last 50 years and are expected to rise by another 25cm in the next 10 years. Scientists from around the Khilafa are working on carbon sequestration technology but currently there have been no new breakthroughs. Negotiations between the Khilafa and other nation states around controlling pollution levels will continue this year at the annual General Aassembly of the Global Trade Federation.