Venezia. Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care
Excerpts;
On the quay leading to the Arsenale exhibition complex, a block of ice melts in a rare blast of spring warmth. Elsewhere in the city, coconuts were bob on the choppy waters of the canals during the opening week of the 55th Venice Biennale.
The ice and the coconuts were both works of art belonging to the Maldives in its first-ever participation in the Biennale. One, by Stefano Cagol, referenced melting ice sheets, which contribute to rising sea levels that may threaten the existence of the fragile island nation…
In Paradise, and Closer Than Ever to Disaster, The New York Times (Uploaded 04-02-2012)
For many of us who live in temperate zones, inland regions and the industrialized West, global warming is a source of anxiety, and something of an abstraction. One challenge for Nasheed, former leader of the lowest lying country, was how to communicate the problems currently apparent in the Maldives to countries where the impacts of climate change are not yet as drastic or visible. What will happen once other nations start to feel the pressure of rising sea levels?
