I know some people don't believe there is global warming. Based on an article I read today, that probably doesn't include the almost 400,000 people who live in The Maldive Islands. Projections are that within the next 40-50 years, ocean levels will rise about 80 feet due to the melting of the polar ice caps and there will be no more Maldives...the entire country will be under water!

Now I know that getting Americans all excited about a bunch of islander-fishermen way out in the Indian Ocean isn't very likely. But just looking at a map, how many millions of people will be affected by an 80-foot rise in the ocean on the southern coast of India? The 14 million people who live in Mumbai (Bombay) can call the moving vans. But what will the 237 million who live in Indonesia do? There's another country that will largely disappear.

For that matter, what else will disappear if the oceans rise by 80 feet? We'll be OK here in The Villages--we're sitting pretty at 86 feet above sea level. One could say that what's happening is a good thing--we'll be that much closer to the beaches. An 80-foot rise in sea level would make the southern tip of Florida at about Lake Ocheechobee. Getting to the beach from The Villages would be an easy 20 mile drive either east or west. But, nah! Global warming is nothing to worry about. Not when we have all the other stuff we argue about here. I wonder what Joe the Plumber would say about this?

Many are quite certain that global warming is man-made. Others deny that it even is occurring. One thing seems petty certain--whatever is causing the polar ice caps to disappear, man better figure out how to slow down the onset of the warm front.