Tsunami threatens survival of Maldives

The tidal waves that swept across the Indian Ocean did more than take a heavy toll of lives and property in the Maldives – they confronted the tiny island nation with a threat to its survival.

The archipelago of 1,190 low-lying coral islands, dotted across hundreds of miles of ocean, has for years begged bigger, more powerful nations for action against global warming, fearing higher sea levels could literally make much of its territory disappear.