Climate Change

We recently watched Arctic Tale, which was an enjoyable movie for a number of reasons. The part that stuck with me most, though, was watching the effects of global warming (oops, I mean "climate change") on the arctic wildlife. The footage of natural habitats in this film is really impressive and the fact that this team of cinematographers has been filming the arctic for several years allows you to visualize the changing climate over a relatively short period of (geological) time. The melting of the glaciers is just an unbelievable sight.

Soon after seeing that movie I heard a great story on NPR about how the Maldives is coping with global warming. This tiny group of islands in the Indian Ocean could easily be submerged by rising sea levels. They have been actively engaged in the debate about climate change long before Western countries would acknowledge the problem and they have been quite creative in their solutions. In particular, they are building flood-resistant islands. Not only is this a technological feat, but a political one too. The new islands are being marketed for cleanliness and affordability rather than for safety from an "end of the world" doomsday. It's a refreshing example of human possibility.