Blue Crush: The Maldives Adds New Item To Nation’s Budget– Buying A New Nation.

Wow. The first democratically elected president of this island nation of Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, has begun diverting a portion of the country’s billion dollar tourist industry to a general fund to buy another country. Since The Maldives can’t do jack as a nation to stop global warming, and the affects it would have on them, they’ve decided to avert destruction by investing in a down payment for a new homeland. Most parts of isle nation are only 1.5 meters above sea level and even just a small rise of the world’s oceans could have a devastating affect on the string of coral atolls that comprises the country. The UN intergovernmental panel on climate change predicts a rise of 59cm by 2100. At least they’re forward thinking; too bad they have to lose a whole country and some of the best surfing waves in the world so we can play DVDs in the back of our SUVs. Looks like I need to bump them up on my ‘must surf before you die’ list.