Weather: Maldives

Perhaps the most telling aspect of the Maldives' climate isn't local but global. The slow worldwide rise in sea level threatens to inundate much of this island nation within the next century. There's little high ground here: the tallest atolls barely top 2m/6ft. Since the Maldives straddle the equator, wet seasons vary, but they tend toward the summer half of the year. Temperatures hardly vary at all, staying sultry even for a tropical locale. Only the northernmost Maldives are at risk from tropical cyclones.