Sands of Time

Like many of the world's tiny island nations, the Maldives faces the serious problem of erosion. It's a slow and natural process made worse by climate change and poor urban development.

"Time is not with us, time is against us," said Vice President Hassan. "We are already living with the consequences of global warming."

"Our islands are being eroded," he continued. "Almost half of the islands face serious erosion problems. People's homes are falling into the lagoons and the water is brackish."

Just 30 minutes by boat from Male, the island of Vabbinfaru moves every month. Sometimes there is a beach on the north end and sometimes it might disappear somehow. Satellite photos show that the shape of the island changes depending on wind, tide currents, and development projects that dredge the seabed for sand and coral.

Hassan Solah, 19, is a marine environment officer for the Banyan Tree Marine Lab on Vabbinfaru Island, uses a pump every month to return sand to the island's disappearing beaches.

Such restoration projects are only made possible because the marine lab is part of a resort. But on the island of Guraidhoo, where only locals live, mitigating the effects of erosion is a luxury ill afforded by the government.

Built in the 1990s, a helicopter pad now sags into a shallow lagoon. Part of the problem comes from a nearby resort, which takes sand from the ocean bed to rebuild pristine beaches for its high-paying clientele.

The destruction of live coral reefs also exacerbates the effects of erosion. Coral slows down the process by acting as a natural barrier to tide surges and strong waves. Roughly three quarters of the Maldives' coral died from warming waters during the 1998 El Nino effect. And then they were badly damaged again after the 2004 tsunami.

The result has left the country's low-lying islands even more vulnerable to sea level rises and devastating storms.

The Banyan Tree Marine Lab has nearly perfected the art of growing coral, a difficult process as coral is delicate and sensitive to its surroundings. Solah described two approaches to growing luscious coral gardens. The first involves planting coral on a steel structure, called a "barnacle," and sending a thee-volt electric shock through to stimulate growth.

"The principle behind it is like electrolysis," he said, noting that within 12 years one barnacle is completely covered in coral, mimicking a mini ecosystem.

The second approach involves planting broken pieces of coral into soft cement balls. When the cement hardens, it holds coral firmly down allowing it to grow.

One More Year

While the Maldives implements a range of initiatives to adapt to the effects of climate change, its government continues to call for global greenhouse emission cuts that would limit temperatures to below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. But even that might not be enough, acknowledged Vice President Hassan.

To make matters more dire, leaders of industrialized nations have said the Copenhagen climate change summit in December will produce a political framework and that negotiations over a legally binding document could take up another year.

Like the other members of the Alliance for Small Island States (AOSIS), the Maldivian government has expressed its disappointment at the delay.

"I think we should really push hard to reach an agreement because another year, another 12 months, there's already fatigue among the negotiators," said Hassan. "They've done as much as they can. Now the leaders have to put their heads together."