Dredd Blog: An Ocean Of Governmental Awareness

Thursday, October 17, 2013

An Ocean Of Governmental Awareness - 2

On this date in 2009 we blogged about a government that held a governmental meeting under water to emphasize the point that their nation was sinking slowly beneath the waves.

Like Atlantis, but slowly.

Today a strange thing is happening in Alaska, Sarah Palin can see a hurricane from her house -- a hurricane that is battering the Alaskan Islands, yes, hurricane winds from one (Wipha) of a couple of typhoons that hit Tokyo, Japan recently:

PKZ177-180300-
ADAK TO KISKA

400 AM AKDT THU OCT 17 2013

HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING TONIGHT
TODAY...S WIND 35 KT BECOMING SW 50 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.
SEAS 17 FT. PATCHY FOG. RAIN.
.TONIGHT...SW WIND 65 KT...EXCEPT 55 KT BERING SIDE.
SEAS 33 FT BUILDING TO 43 FT AFTER MIDNIGHT. RAIN.
.FRI...W WIND 55 KT BECOMING NW 45 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 35 FT SUBSIDING TO 27 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN.
.FRI NIGHT...NW WIND 35 KT. SEAS 21 FT.
.SAT...NW WIND 30 KT. SEAS 15 FT.
.SUN...W WIND 25 KT. SEAS 10 FT.
.MON...NW WIND 25 KT. SEAS 10 FT.

(NOAA). Anyway, let's move on to the main theme today, which is the post on this date in 2009:

The government of the Maldives is alive and well, even as the ocean they worry about is not so healthy:

The government of the Maldives has held a cabinet meeting underwater to highlight the threat of global warming to the low-lying Indian Ocean nation.

President Mohamed Nasheed and his cabinet signed a document calling for global cuts in carbon emissions.

Ministers spent half an hour on the sea bed, communicating with white boards and hand signals.

The president said the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen this December cannot be allowed to fail.

At a later press conference while still in the water, President Nasheed was asked what would happen if the summit fails. "We are going to die," he replied.