To put things into context for you, the average height of the Maldives is only 4ft above sea level.
Here in the Maldives we are incredibly vulnerable to the effects of Climate Change.
Last Saturday, March 24th saw the global celebration of Earth Hour.
Earth hour is a global movement that brings people together from all over the world to connect back to the earth, turning off the lights for one hour to raise awareness about current environmental issues.
It encourages us to talk about solutions that our planet is now facing due to climate change and other human activities. It drives us to push for better, environmental friendly laws, and to raise awareness to our family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances.
Climate change impacts more than just the polar bears. Some of the worst effects of climate change include rising sea levels, more frequent extreme weather events, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, melting of the glaciers and more. Climate change is killing our environment and the humans that live within in. Some of you will already have been affected by changing weather patterns causing flooding or drought. Others will have shed a tear to witness the devastating impacts of coral bleaching on their favorite reef.
So how can climate change be tackled?
Along-side mitigating the dangerous impacts of climate change, we must prevent the situation from worsening. The biggest driver of climate change is fossil fuels, therefore it is important that we make the drive to switch to more green, clean, sustainable energy sources such as solar or wind; leaving the fossil fuels in the ground where they belong.
This change needs to come from everyone. From your local businesses, global businesses, the policy makers and individuals. We can change our own individual behavior, we can choose to support the companies who make the real effort to minimize their impact on the planet, and we can push the government to change important legislation and increase funding to low-carbon technology.
Here are Soneva we celebrated Earth Hour by turning out the power for one hour, gazed at the night sky and committed ourselves to make a change for our little piece of paradise.
What did you do for earth hour? Write us a comment below to tell us how you joined in!
By E.B.