The World Is Sinking!!!

. . . the Dubai World, that is. A suit against the developers of the island archipelago, the Dubai state-owned Nakheel, revealed that The World is, well, sinking.

According to the Telegraph:

The World, the ambitiously-constructed archipelago of islands shaped like the countries of the globe, is sinking back into the sea, according to evidence cited before a property tribunal.

The islands were intended to be developed with tailor-made hotel complexes and luxury villas, and sold to millionaires. They are off the coast of Dubai and accessible by yacht or motor boat.

Now their sands are eroding and the navigational channels between them are silting up, the British lawyer for a company bringing a case against the state-run developer, Nakheel, has told judges.

BTW, only the island supposed to represent Greenland has any construction—all the other buildings and projects have been halted. Which makes only too much sense: Property values in Dubai have more than halved, since the top of the market in 2008. 

People actually paid north of $20 million to buy what were, essentially, patches of sand in the middle of the ocean. 

It amuses the staff at The Hourly G Command Central to no end, to see the profligacy of our passing Gilded Age pass into dust—or in this case, slide back into the sea from which it came.

So take a good long last look, before it’s all gone (some choice images after the jump): 

Dubai’s The World: Looks great from afar.

Greenland, the only building on the islands. 

The “islands”: Or in other words,
patches of sand sinking into the ocean.
Believe it or not, people paid good money for this.

What will soon remain of “The World”.