Maldives president vows carbon neutral nation

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The president of the Maldives says the Indian Ocean nation will become the world's first carbon-neutral country within a decade.

Writing in Sunday's edition of Britain's Observer newspaper, President Mohamed Nasheed said his country of low-lying tropical islands faced "a real threat to our survival" from rising sea levels produced by global warming.

Climate researchers say that many of the Maldives' 1,200 islands could disappear if the seas continue to rise. Much of the archipelago is only 5 feet (1.5 meters) above sea level.

Scientists meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark last week warned that climate change was accelerating faster than predicted. They said melting glaciers and ice sheets could help push the sea level up by as much as 39 inches (1 meter) by the end of the century.



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