Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The Marshall Islands





The Marshall Islands are trying to avoid the sad fate - marine engineers presented the project of building the 5-kilometer dike, which should protect the archipelago from flooding.

The government has formally asked the UNO to provide financial assistance. The "construction project of life" takes only $ 20 million, these funds should be sufficient for the first phase of the wall. The construction will be built directly into the sea on the leeward side of the capital atoll of Majuro, consisting of 64 small islands. Dike height of several meters and a width of not less than 5 km will distribute the weight of water on small "buffer" coves and crashing waves during storms.

This unique project, which scale design can be compared with the erection of the ancient Great Wall of China. "Marshallian wall" is also needed to save the life of an entire country. Most islands do not rise above the highest tidal point even on the meter. In this case, residential buildings on the same Majuro, where, incidentally, are key administrative areas as well as an international airport, separated from the shoreline up to 10 meters.

With the growth in global sea level all the low-lying atolls fairly rapidly disappear under water. In recent years, the sea rises by 3-5 cm a year. UN experts predict the Climate to the end of this century, the water level may rise by 120-150 cm in this case, the ocean would burry not only the Marshall Islands, but also popular tourist Maldives. In addition, experts predict big trouble coast of China, Egypt and the Indian states of Kerala and Goa. Their flooding may occur in the next few decades.