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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.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 12th, 2007 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Art & Culture, Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Six Sights to See (Before They’re Gone)”

pelmo says:

Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 8:55 am

The people in Las Vegas are way ahead of you. Already we can go there and see not only Venice, but Paris and the pyramids of Egypt, and all within walking distance. I am sure that someone will be able to build a theme hotel and reconstruct these various locales.
I was amazed to see how many morons, looked at these sites and thaught they were looking at the real thing.

On a diffrent subject, in the Sunday Tribune, the Steve Chapman commentary is a very interesting read.

Reply
JoeC says:

Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 4:05 pm

“I was amazed to see how many morons, looked at these sites and thaught they were looking at the real thing.”

You’re kidding, Pelmo. Right? Please tell me you’re kidding!

On the Steve Chapman article…that was a nice opinion piece (Chapman article link). I still think it’s going to come down to a choice between a Wendy’s and a McDonald’s big-money candidate, unfortunately, but it’s nice that there are a lot of loose cannons shaking shaking up the debates and forcing the big names to talk about uncomfortable subjects.

Reply
pelmo says:

Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 6:37 pm

I truly wish I was kidding. It is amazing to stand by those attractions, and hear some of the comments. I enjoyed that more then the gaming tables. It’s unbelievable how people can’t see the differance between reality and make believe.

Reply
Xman says:

Monday, May 14, 2007 at 8:32 am

Just watch “Jaywalking” on Leno to get a regular stupid fix.

A few years ago in my hometown, I once heard a female friend counselling a girlfriend on how to work a relationship using a relationship on a soap opera as a basis.

But then there is the rumour that Nancy Reagan used a medium to run Ronnie. And more recently, Georgie boy thinks God is in his hip pocket….

Sometimes I feel like we are surrounded by people like the Belushi character in Animal House. Only care about food, fighting and f**king.

Reply
JoeC says:

Monday, May 14, 2007 at 12:17 pm

My great uncle was a minister in the 1960s, and the story often came up of how one Sunday, at the end of the service when he would always ask if anybody had a prayer request, a lady requested a prayer for somebody who was ill and dying. My uncle didn’t recognize the name he was praying for, but soon found out it belonged to a character on a popular soap opera. The lady who requested the prayer was very serious, too.

Reply
Xman says:

Monday, May 14, 2007 at 2:10 pm

hahahahaha!
Reminds me now that I have heard of dastardly soap opera stars being assaulted on the street by angry fans…thinking it is all real.
No wonder advertising works so well.
As you know, I’m not a religious sort, but still get asked to say a prayer from time to time. I think I’ll think of a creative one…incorporating your uncles story. I’ll do anything for a laugh and imagine if there is a God, he’d appreciate it…since I’m created in his image and all.

Reply
pelmo says:

Monday, May 14, 2007 at 3:17 pm

Idiots made me retire early. The last 11 years I was in CSI. At quitting time we would see who had the dumbest request for our services. Each day we would think this story can’t be topped. But they managed to do it every day. It wasn’t just the lowly patrolmen, but SGT’s, Lt’s and Captains joined right in.

Reply

Six Sights to See (Before They’re Gone)

The Dead Sea

The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Wall of China

Glacier National Park

Venice, Italy

The Amazon Rainforest

7 Responses to “Six Sights to See (Before They’re Gone)”

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