1988

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Source: The Canberra Times

URL: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/102074798

Date: 26/09/1988

Event: Sea level rise threatens to cover Maldives "within the next 30 years"

Credit: The Canberra Times, Trove (National Library of Australia)

THE CANBERRA TIMES - SEP 26, 1988

Threat to Islands

MALE, Maldives: A gradual rise in average sea level is threatening to completely cover this Indian Ocean nation of 1196 small islands within the next 30 years, according to authorities. The Environmental Affairs Director, Mr Hussein Shihab, said an estimated rise of 20 to 30 centimetres in the next 20 to 40 years could be "catastrophic" for most of the islands, which were no more than a metre above sea level. The United Nations Environment Project was planning a study of the problem. But the end of the Maldives and its 200,000 people could come sooner if drinking water supplies dry up by 1992, as predicted. — AFP