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Global warming comes with a big price for everyone on this planet. The most recently effected: vacationers.

Visiting the sun-kissed paradise of the Maldives is not only a special treat that may not be possible in the future (since 80% of its 1,200 islands are no more than 1 meter above sea level) but a new environmental tax on tourists is making the trip a bit more costly. The threat of rising water levels could force the country’s 360,000 citizens to evacuate, which explains why it was the first country to sign the Kyoto Protocol, that set targets for cuts in industrialized countries’ greenhouse gas emissions.

The Maldives are a sought after vacation destination, with many luxury hotels and resorts, over a quarter of their $850 million economy is brought in by tourists. Averaging about 700,000 tourists each year (double that of the native population), the green tax of $3 a day per visitor will bring in $6.3 million annually. This money will be used for President Mohammed Nasheed’s plan to make the Maldives the world’s first carbon-neutral nation within a decade

In March, Nasheed began a $1.1 billion initiative to convert the islands to renewable energy from fossil fuels, as well as buy and destroy EU carbon credits to offset emissions from tourists visiting the islands. Outside funding is still needed to fund these plans. There doesn’t seem to be much choice for Nasheed, as the latest research indicates that if present rates of carbon emissions continue, global warming will likely cause sea level rises of about one meter by 2100. This is close to double the rise predicted by most scientists just two years ago.

To read more, check out Reuters.com