Maldives Cabinet Signs Climate Change Document 20 Feet Under Sea

AP Video: Maldives Cabinet Underwater

Members of the Maldives’ Cabinet donned scuba gear and used hand signals Saturday at an underwater meeting staged to highlight the threat of global warming to the lowest-lying nation on earth.

By Associated Press

President Mohammed Nasheed and 13 other government officials submerged and took their seats at a table on the sea floor — 20 feet below the surface of a lagoon off Girifushi, an island usually used for military training.

With a backdrop of coral, the meeting was a bid to draw attention to fears that rising sea levels caused by the melting of polar ice caps could swamp this Indian Ocean archipelago within a century. Its islands average 7 feet above sea level.

“What we are trying to make people realize is that the Maldives is a frontline state. This is not merely an issue for the Maldives but for the world,” Nasheed said.

As bubbles floated up from their face masks, the president, vice president, Cabinet secretary and 11 ministers signed a document calling on all countries to cut their carbon dioxide emissions.

The issue has taken on urgency ahead of a major U.N. climate change conference scheduled for December in Copenhagen. At that meeting countries will negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol with aims to cut the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that scientists blame for causing global warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Wealthy nations want broad emissions cuts from all countries, while poorer ones say industrialized countries should carry most of the burden.

Read the rest of this story at Fox News.

18 Responses to Maldives Cabinet Signs Climate Change Document 20 Feet Under Sea

  1. Kurt October 19, 2009 at 1:54 pm #

    The active propaganda is getting REALLY thick! Patriots the world over are going to have to organize MASSIVE demonstrations CONTINUOUSLY in order to counter this.

  2. Rob N. Hood October 19, 2009 at 4:30 pm #

    Patriots? Really, you actually use that word? What would they be fighting against exactly?

  3. Dan McGrath October 19, 2009 at 4:36 pm #

    Problem with the word patriot?

  4. Paul Wenum October 19, 2009 at 9:03 pm #

    Robbie Boy is Back. Yes, what is wrong with being a Patriot?

  5. Brad October 19, 2009 at 9:09 pm #

    What a STUPID gimmick!

  6. Andrew October 20, 2009 at 4:56 am #

    I think it’s a sign that the propaganda tactics have reached a stage where every government who is able to, will jump onto this bandwagon for more political exposure. Desperation stakes for Global Warmers?

  7. Rob N. Hood October 20, 2009 at 9:29 am #

    It’s just a gimmicky word. And used sometimes as cover to make those wrapping themselves in it like the flag, making what could be less than patriotic actions seem more justified. And of course if you think of yourselves as “patriots” then those who disagree with you are something other than that, right? AND- how would Patriots from “all over the world” work exactly? And you guys like to link us up with world-wide Socialism/Communism. It’s just and odd statment. Nobody answered the question of: what would you be fighting against exactly? You need to be clear about that I think before-hand.

  8. Paul Wenum October 20, 2009 at 8:59 pm #

    Robbie Boy we don’t wrap ourself’s in the flag, we cherish it’s existence and dearly respect it’s history in the founding of our Country! It was OK for the democrats to nearly destroy Chicago in 68 but if an average person (Not Liberal leaning) wants to demonstrate, that’s not “natural.” I guess it must be a liberal thing? I do not advocate violence period. What I do advocate is people like me to get off their butts and finally do something instead of assuming like conservatives seem to do, let someone else do their bidding. If that is being a Patriot, then I am one. What say you teacher of the alleged truth??? It is not a gimmick. Tell that to our troops as well as my father, fathers father etc. Robbie Boy!!!

  9. Melanie October 21, 2009 at 12:30 am #

    Rob- Patriot, as defined by dictionary.com: 1. a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion. 2. a person who regards himself or herself as a defender, esp. of individual rights, against presumed interference by the federal government. There are patriots “all over the world” that are dying, to defend your freedom. The fight? It is against the lies that will steal our country out from underneath our feet.
    “Proactive people show you what they love, what they want, what they purpose, and what they stand for. These people are very different from those who are known by what they hate, what they don’t like, what they stand against, and what they will not do… proactive people do not demand rights, they LIVE them. Power is not something that you demand or deserve, it is something you express. The ultimate expression of power is love; it is the ability not to express power, but to restrain it.” -Cloud and Townsend.
    If you don’t like America, why don’t you try on another country for size? I’m not being ugly, just making a point. There is no other country in the world as unique and amazing as America. Immigrants are still flocking here, 200 years later, and yet people who are born into this country can’t seem to appreciate what they have. God has given us a gift, and he has given you a gift. You can choose gratitude, or dissatisfaction. It is obvious to everyone around you which one you’re struggling with right now. Turn to God, and let Him heal your heart. Love, choose love.

    • Chris Hemme October 22, 2009 at 8:57 am #

      WELL SAID, MELANIE! I AGREE WITH EVERY WORD. I APPRECIATE YOUR ABILITY TO EXPRESS WELL WHAT YOU FEEL AND KNOW AS A PATRIOT, AND ONE WHO HAS THE UNDERSTAND OF POWER, LOVE AND FREEDOM. THANK YOU.

      • Dan McGrath October 22, 2009 at 9:59 am #

        Please turn off the caps lock. Thanks!

  10. Rob N. Hood October 21, 2009 at 8:42 am #

    Blah, blah blah.

  11. Melanie October 21, 2009 at 9:50 am #

    You just made a very good point. When you ask questions, you’re not actually trying to get answers, but instead trying to incite hate and discontentment. When you do that you make it abundantly clear that you and your questions shouldn’t really be taken seriously. I hope you’re day gets better! 🙂

  12. Rob N. Hood October 21, 2009 at 12:14 pm #

    Whatever, Pauly Boy has blown me off in similar ways more than I could count. So buzz off nosey Melanie. your respose to my questioning a simple word says a lot about you. It’s just a word. The problem I have is when some people use such things to EXCLUDE others, those that they have decided aren’t WORTHY. This of course happened after 9/11 and still makes me sick to think about to this day. I can tell you are one of these people. Big surprise to find you here on this site… NOT. I know you won’t even begin to pretend to understand what I’ve just said. And I don’t really care.

  13. Ross October 21, 2009 at 4:52 pm #

    Curious thing that the Maldives is seeking publicity as a front line state to be affected by the effects of possible climate change brought on in modern times. I wonder whether the government of the Maldives (basically a Muslim state) would like to get the same attention drawn to the fact that its parliament recently tried to re-introduce 7th Century Islamic Sharia law – demanding the death penalty for apostates from Islam, stoning for adulterers , amputations for thieves etc etc

  14. Rob N. Hood October 22, 2009 at 10:52 am #

    So just because they’re Muslim they don’t have the right to worry about their country/culture? They don’t have the right to some freedom to what they want with their own country? Isn’t that what all the people in this site are screaming for? That’s called prejudice Ross.

  15. Paul Wenum October 22, 2009 at 9:54 pm #

    Ross, That is a different subject. I will not comment further.

  16. István Bácskay October 28, 2009 at 8:26 am #

    http://www.theclimatescam.se/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/M%C3%B6rner-letter-Maldiverna.pdf
    Yes, it is a gimmick! But not a stupid one.
    For better info please read the open letter to the president of Maldieves writen by prof N-A Mörner at the University os Stockholm.

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