12 famous tourist spots that may soon disappear

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It seems that the tourist destinations are unshakable and you can plan to visit them regularly for several years in advance. However, as the experience with the 28-meter rock arch known as the Azure Window, which collapsed in Malta this year, has shown, changes in the Earth's climate can significantly change the plans of travelers. It may be worthwhile to hurry up to see some cities and landmarks before they are irrevocably lost or destroyed.

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is 430 meters below sea level, and its level drops by at least one meter every year. Over the past hundred years, the water level in this lake has dropped by 25 meters, and the destructive process is only progressing. In 1977, the lake became so shallow that it was actually divided into two parts. Various enterprises began to actively use the southern part of the lake, and this further accelerated the disruption of the natural process of water circulation in the Dead Sea. Moreover, over the past few years, the Dead Sea has been polluted by runoff from Palestinian cities and settlements, which bring not only sewage, but also plastic waste. Unfortunately, the Palestinian side has not yet taken or supported any action to preserve the sea, and the situation remains quite critical.

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world, covering an area of about 344,400 square kilometers - it can even be seen from space. The Great Barrier Reef supports a huge variety of living organisms, but their well-being is currently in question. Several destructive factors affect the reef at once: hurricanes that physically destroy corals, the periodic increase in the population of the crown of thorns starfish, which feeds on coral polyps, and, of course, human activities. In addition, global warming also contributes to the destruction of this a unique natural phenomenon: the fact is that just one degree of warming of the water costs the life of algae that live in polyps. And today there are already huge sections of the reef in which there are discolored damaged corals.

Ancient city of Petra

City in Jordan, completely carved out of rock. The city is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, but how long these structures will survive is unknown. Due to erosion and illiterate use of water, buildings in the city are rapidly deteriorating. The tourist flow also makes its own adjustments, and even the restoration work, which was not done quite correctly, only accelerate the process of destruction.

the great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China runs through northern China for 8,851.9 km, but in fact its length is much shorter. Many sites have collapsed due to lack of proper maintenance of the building. Only the site, which is visited by tourists, is well preserved, one outside the tourist area, bricks from the wall are often dismantled by local residents to use them to build their own houses, and some sections of the wall were demolished for the construction of highways and railways.

Grand canyon

The Grand Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the world. It is located in the state of Arizona, USA, and its length is 446 km, while its width ranges from 6 to 29 km. At the same time, about 4,000 sq. Km. uranium mines occupy the canyon, and their activities cause severe damage to the local ecosystem. Tourists who leave their trash on the territory of the canyon also cause a lot of problems.

Maldives

The Maldives is a real paradise on earth. Here, the azure waters of the Indian Ocean are washed by golden sandy shores, and along the archipelago there is a coral reef. However, due to the warm El Niño current and a 5 ° C rise in water temperature, this reef was almost completely destroyed. In addition, the islands of the archipelago are quite low - the highest point of the islands does not exceed 2.4 meters above sea level, and therefore global warming is a real threat to the Maldives. Due to the melting of glaciers, the level of the world's oceans is rising, which means that the Maldives themselves are sinking. "If this continues, my land will disappear in seven years," says the country's president.

Nauru

Nauru is a dwarf state in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, it is only slightly larger than the Vatican, and a little more than 10 thousand people live here. The island itself is a raised coral atoll perched atop a volcanic cone. It is always summer here, mangoes, cherries, coconuts … But all this can also go under water if the water level in the world's oceans rises slightly. However, it is possible that people themselves will destroy the atoll even earlier. The fact is that phosphorites are being mined on the island, as a result of which 90% of the forest on the island was destroyed, turning the entire territory outside the tourist area into a lunar landscape.

Glacier National Park

Initially, about 150 glaciers were located on the territory of Glacier National Park. However, now, due to global warming, there are at best 25.

Kasbah Teluet

The Kasbah Teluet fortress is one of the main attractions of Morocco, however, as a result of erosion and the complete lack of maintenance of the ancient structure, the fortress fell into decay. Only in 2010, they realized it and announced a project that should preserve the remains of the palace.

Giza pyramid complex

It is believed that the pyramids at Giza were built around the XXVI-XXIII century BC. NS. However, these structures are falling prey to natural erosion, and even now access to most of the complex is prohibited for tourists.

Big Sur

Big Sur is a picturesque coastline in California with approximately 145 km of coastline. This place is so beautiful that the government took it under its wing, banning any industry here. However, even without direct human influence, the coast is in danger: more and more often fires occur here, which are very difficult to extinguish due to the lack of roads and a large area of forests. One of the fires destroyed the local flora and fauna for three months.

Venice

A romantic destination in world tourism, Italian Venice attracts with its many canals, carnival and general atmosphere of romance. However, experts are confident that in the next century this city will go under water due to rising sea levels, due to industrial water intake from artesian wells, as well as due to the impressive weight of the buildings themselves in the city. Already today, this city suffers more than 100 cases of flooding per year. 14 years ago, the MOSE project was developed, which provides for the construction of sealed barriers around the city, but experts from the Netherlands criticized these dams because of the low efficiency of such flood protection. As a result, at the moment, no significant work is underway to preserve the city.

And this year, despite the fact that Venice is sinking more and more under water, another phenomenon was observed - the canals of the city are emptyrevealing dirt and debris at the bottom.