Environment Minister Aminath Shauna has said that the state expenditure due to climate change keeps increasing every year. The minister made the statement while speaking at a ceremony held by the Meteorological Office on the occasion of World Meteorological Day.
In her speech, Shauna said climate change causes different natural disasters and that the Maldives is directly affected by the changes. She said that the expense incurred to overcome the damages and seek safety increases year on year.
Referring to statistics publicized by the Met Office, the minister said the Maldives' temperature rose by 0.23 degrees over the last ten years and by 1.1 degrees Celcius over the past 47 years.
'As the amount of rain that falls on the Maldives and the natural freshwater lens is linked, [climate change] affects farming and fishing,' the minister said.
During Thursday's ceremony, the minister launched a mobile application developed by the Met Office that shows the areas in which rainwater can be collected and the office's new website.
World Meteorological Day is marked on March 23 every year.
A meteorological service was established in the Maldives in the early 1940s. There are five meteorological offices established across the Maldives.
