Malosmadulu Atolls, Maldives

North and South Malosmadulu Atolls are in the Maldives, an island republic in the northern
Indian Ocean, southwest of India. The Maldives are made up of a chain of 1,192 small coral
islands, which are grouped into clusters of atolls. It has a total area of 298 square kilometers
and a population of about 330,000. The capital and largest city is Male, with a population of
about 80,000. Arguably the lowest-lying country in the world, the average elevation is just 1
meter above sea level.

Waves triggered by the great tsunami of December 2004 spilled over sea walls to flood Male with
sand-clouded water and then swept out just as suddenly. Residents fear this was a foreboding of
disasters to come from sea-level rise due to global warming.