Six Sights to See (Before They’re Gone)
(Thanks to this Vancouver Sun article for the list…)
The world has many sights you should see before you die, and many other sights you should see before the location itself surrenders to an onslaught of global warming, pollution, deforestation and overpopulation.
Here are six such places:
The Dead Sea
Located between Israel, The West Bank, and Jordan, the Dead Sea is the Earth’s lowest point not covered by water. The surface is 1,371 feet below sea level, and falling. And it’s got a long way to fall, because the Dead Sea is the deepest saltwater lake in the world — 1,083 feet deep.
Famous people throughout history have enjoyed hanging out at the Dead Sea…people like King David, and Herod the Great. But, if you want to join that list, buy your travel tickets now. At the current rate (one meter per year) the Dead Sea will disappear by 2050.
The Dead Sea is drying up because the fresh water that feeds the lake is increasingly diverted from the Jordan River and pumped to Israel and Jordan for industry, agriculture, and domestic use. As the Jordan River shrinks, wildlife and ecosystems are disappearing along with the Dead Sea.
See it while you can…
The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef off the northeast coast of Australia is the world’s largest coral reef system. It stretches over 1,600 miles and consists of about 3,000 reefs and 900 islands. The reef is made up of millions of tiny living coral polyps, and supports a huge variety of ocean life.
But, the reef won’t be alive much longer. Researchers say that 95% of the coral will be gone by 2050, along with the life it supports.
The warming ocean is destroying the reef, along with over-fishing and water pollution. The reef’s coral becomes highly stressed by temperature changes of as little as one degree. Ocean temperature at the Great Barrier Reef is expected to rise between 2 and 6 degrees by 2100.
Although the Great Barrier Reef won’t disappear, it will consist of lifeless, bleached coral, and be dominated by seaweed instead of all those colorful fish.
So, grab your snorkel gear and see one of the world’s seven natural wonders while it lasts…
The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is the world’s longest human-made structure, and China’s most famous landmark.
The wall was built between 500 BC and 1644 AD to protect the northern border of the Chinese Empire. But the ravages of time, along with mother nature and vandalism, are taking a heavy toll.
According to recent reports, about half of the 4,000-mile wall built during the Ming Dynasty no longer exists. Besides encroaching plants, and stone thiefs, the big culprit seems to be…tourists. There are more cars in China than ever before, and that translates to more weekenders pouring out of the city to see the Wild Wall sections. Unfortunately, the Great Wall is crumbling under the weight of those 13 million annual tourists.
When you go, be sure to bring a camera and take a picture before it’s all dust…
Glacier National Park
Montana’s Glacier National Park contains two mountain ranges, 130 major lakes, over a thousand species of plants, and hundreds of species of animals.
The park is part of the massive Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, a protected region that’s been kept in its pristine state ever since white explorers first arrived in America.
Glacier National Park also has glaciers…
In 1850 there were 150 of the giant, slow-moving masses of ice. Today, there are only 27. By 2030? If the current warming trend continues, there will be zero.
See ‘em while you can.
Venice, Italy
The city of Venice, Italy, stretches across more than 200 small islands in a marshy region of the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. Its stone buildings rise from wooden pilings on top of spongy mats of silt, separated by a couple hundred canals, and connected by nearly four hundred bridges.
Over the past 100 years, the land level of Venice has dropped over 9 inches due to rising sea levels and land subsidence. Add to that the predicted global sea-level rise of up to thirty inches over the next 100 years, due to climate change, and those inhabitants who’ve already abandoned their first floors, may have to move the furniture up the stairs again.
More than likely, people will just leave. In fact, they’re already leaving…
The population of historic Venice was 171,000 in 1951. Today, it’s dwindled below 62,000. Officials predict another 8,000 will leave over the next 10 years.
Sure, 18 million tourists still drop by every year, but there’s no denying the local shops are disappearing along with the permanent residents. Some neighborhoods have been left without a single grocery store. And where 10 cinemas used to adorn the center of Venice, only the Ritz cinema remains.
So, if you ever want to kiss your lover in a gondola at sunset beneath the Bridge of Sighs, for God’s sake, hurry the hell up!
The Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest contains over half of the Earth’s remaining rainforests. It’s the richest biome in the world, home to the largest collection of living plants and animal species on the planet. Just imagine…one out of every five birds lives in the Amazon.
And yet, an area of the Amazon Rainforest about the size of New Jersey is cut down every year for logging, raising cattle, and growing crops. As soybean prices rise, more Brazilian farmers push northward and clear more of the forest. The cleared land is worth over five times more than forested land, and people are free to hack, burn, and resell it at will.
In Brazil alone, more than 50,000 square miles of rain forest disappeared between 2000 and 2005. That’s a chunk of forest about the size of New York state.
So, book down there and take a canopy tour…while there’s still a canopy left.
Read More: global warming, pollution, deforestation, overpopulation, Dead Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Great Wall of China, Glacier National Park, Venice, Amazon Rainforest
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