If you’ve always dreamed of vacationing on one of the tropical atolls that comprise the island nation of the Republic of Maldives, you’d better get booking–even their president is uncertain about how long they’ll be there.

With 300,000 islanders living, for the most part, 1.5 meters above the water, the UN prediction of a  59 centimeter sea level rise by 2100 is not just alarming to Maldivians, it’s cause to look for a new home. The newly-elected president (and first democratically-elected president), Mohamed Nasheed, wants the Maldives to begin appropriating a portion of their tourism revenue to saving for the purchase of new homelands, which he expects will be necessary if climate change continues as it’s going. Since they can’t alter the course of the environment single-handedly, he says, they’re taking the steps they can take and preparing for the worst. Click here to read more

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While we’ve been hearing about global warming and climate change more and more in the news, there are still those who argue that the problem does not exist, or if it does, that we are not the cause. A new report from WWF, formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund, shows that not only is climate change a very real problem, but one that is quickly worsening. In fact, the report, titled “Climate Change: Faster, Stronger, Sooner“, details that global warming is accelerating at a more rapid pace than predicted in an assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that was published just a year ago.

On a range of fronts, the WWF report found that the problems arising from global warming are occuring sooner and to much larger degrees than anticipated. One example given to demonstrate the severity of the situation was findings from the Arctic that sea ice is disappearing up to 30 years ahead of the predictions from the IPCC…and may in fact be totally gone in as little as five years. On another front, the rising heat from global warming has already cost 40 million metric tons of crop losses per year. Click here to read more

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Today, June 5th, is The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) World Environment Day.  World Environment Day was established to bring global attention and political action to issues surrounding the environment. This year’s slogan is “Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy.“ As Americans, this slogan should really be more relevant than ever as the Senate has scheduled a “cloture” vote to end the filibuster on the Climate Security Act tomorrow morning.

Over the last 7+ years, the United States has stood idle while the rest of the developed world has come together and fought to stop climate change. As the Bush era nears its close, there is an opportunity for the U.S. to join the fight and it is time for Americans to speak up. Environmental Defense has launched Operation Climate Vote to raise awareness and support for this historic global warming legislation. What can you do?

Here are a few ideas for starters…

1. Visit Environmental Defense to learn more

2. Email your Senators and urge them to vote YES on cloture

3. Give your Senators a call: Dial 1-800-927-6464 to be patched directly through.

4. Tell all your friends to take action.

Let’s make it happen!

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