Aerial view of destroyed housing depicts how vulnerable the Atolls are to rising Ocean levels or giant waves Kandolhudhoo, Raa Atoll, Maldives.Before the disaster struck, the people of the Maldives were deeply worried about how vulnerable they are to global warming and irregular weather patterns in the Indian Ocean. Even in the absence of natural disasters such as the tsunami, a combination of higher sea levels due to greenhouse gases and extreme weather could be catastrophic.