Thanks Steele,

You've spelt out the major reasons why the Maldives has little reason to worry.

Do coral atolls grow ? Yes. Some of the islands in Kiribati and Tuvalu are larger in area now than fifty years ago, from aerial photos, despite the removal of ground-water by diesel-driven pumps and consequent land subsidence. Atolls grow.

Is there tectonic shift in that area ? i.e. is India still running up into the Himalayas ? Yes. And its Plate is tilting down in the east and up in the west, so that Bangla Desh is 'sinking' while the Ganges valley is 'rising'. Hence flooding along the Bangladeshi coast.

Perhaps the rise of the tectonic plate, vis-a-vis the Maldives, is keeping pace with sea-level rise ?

How much sea-level rise are we talking about ? i.e. around the world ? A half an inch a decade ? While tides go up and down one or two metres, twice a day ?

"Jesus ! The sky is falling ! The sky is falling !" some may say. It doesn't seem to be, on these grounds.

Thanks, Steele, for giving us some criteria to assess, and to assure us that it's all manageable.

Joe