The Maldives have become a symbol of the dangers of global
warming, amid fears the low-lying nation could disappear as a
result of rising sea levels. But one team of scientists believes
the truth is more complicated. The Maldives coral islands, they
postulate, may be growing with the rising waters...More
discussion and explanation at Der Spiegel. The geomorphologists
compared old aerial photographs taken in World War II with
current satellite images. To their surprise, they found that
most of the atolls they were studying had either grown or
remained unchanged in the last few decades, even though the sea
level has already risen by 12 centimeters (about 5 inches). As
soon as it was published, the study became ammunition in the
political battle over global warming. Climate activists
questioned its conclusions, which would normally be welcomed as
good news. Skeptics of anthropogenic climate change, on the
other hand, seized upon the study as evidence that all the
excitement over global warming is completely unne