From a Tiger Sanctuary, to tropical islands, here are 10 of the most important places that
are disappearing….If you haven’t been to these places it is time to get on it!
10.
Sundarbans Reserve Forest
The Sundarbans Reserve Forest is one of the natural wonders of the world.
It covers an area of more than 10,000 square kilometers across India and Bangladesh.
The Sundarbans mangrove forest is the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the world, and
is home to countless rare and endangered species including 260 bird species and the Indian
python.
Perhaps the most famous is the planet’s largest single population of Bengal tigers.
With 55% of the national park being forest land and the rest being wetlands, it’s the
perfect environment for the tigers, who are virtually amphibious as they hunt fish, crabs,
and even water monitor lizards.
The area is an extremely important geological feature, as it helps stunt the growth of storms
that pass into densely populated areas, and stabilises the shores.
The mangrove trees actually save billions of dollars worth of storm and hurricane damage.
There are three wildlife sanctuaries that are critical breeding areas for endangered
wildlife that include forests, rivers, creeks, islands, swamps, estuaries, mudflats, and
tidal flats.
The area has everything!!
The wealth of natural resources here, though, has been too good an opportunity to miss for
those looking for sources of timber.
The area sustains millions of people and many take shelter from cyclones and tidal surges
in the forest.
However, at the same time they make a living from cutting and selling wood.
This place might not be around for much longer as illegal hunting and timber extraction increase.
Also the mouth of the Ganges river has shifted which has lead to an increase in salinity
in the water.
Storms and cyclones are getting even more intense.
Tourism and oil spills have put the precarious ecosystem at risk.
It is changing dramatically for the worse, and despite the best efforts of conservationists,
and legal measures the Sundarbans and its wildlife are slowly disappearing.
9.
The Outer Banks, North Carolina
Lying off the coast of North Carolina is a 200 mile long string of islands, called the
Outer Banks, that are known for their pristine beaches, beautiful towns, and great weather.
Some families have lived here for generations, and many return year after year for vacation.
It’s a slice of paradise for those fortunate enough to visit, but sadly it’s a place
that may soon be a distant memory.
As islands, they don’t sit very far above sea level, and are vulnerable to the problems
being faced by many similar regions around the world- namely climate change and rising
ocean levels.
Some estimates suggest they could, quite possibly, vanish from the coastline within 50 to 100
years.
It’s not just higher water levels that are scary but the increased frequency of stormy
weather.
Even if it didn’t stir up the waves and cover the islands, storm surges and development
are causing the islands to collapse.
Coastal geologists are saying that they are already losing the islands now and that in
10 years, it’s going to be awful.
As I said, shrinking shorelines are a global problem and the U.S Geological Survey predicts
that many shorelines will disappear by a meter or more per year.
8.
The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia, is by far the largest coral structure in the
world- so much so that it’s the only living thing that can be seen from space.
With more than 900 islands, 2,900 individual reefs, and covering an area of about 133,000
square miles- it’s just massive!
That’s almost the same size as Germany, and bigger than all but 4 of the US states.
Sadly, the Great Barrier Reef is also the place where the dangers facing coral systems
around the world are the most obvious.
In the past few years, there has been a substantial increase in “bleaching events” that are
thought to be caused by increased water temperatures.
Corals live in a delicate ecosystem, and actually get their colour and food from algae that
live within them.
When the coral is stressed, something that happens when water is too warm or polluted,
it ejects the tiny algae, and loses its colour.
This also removes its food source, so if it doesn’t recover soon it will die.
They can’t cope with the stress caused by heat.
Coral can recover from an occasional bleaching, but mass events have become the norm, which
has resulted in almost one quarter of the Great Barrier Reef completely dying off.
What’s more- an estimated 93% of the entire reef has been touched by bleaching, with some
experts suggesting it could all be dead within 30 years.
National Geographic reported that divers off of Cape York, Australia found up to 50% mortality
in the reef from coral bleaching.
The most likely culprit was the rising temperatures in the ocean.
What’s happening in Australia is happening all over the world.
And now for number 7 but first be sure to click the notification bell!!!
7.
Antarctica
Antarctica is often thought of as the last great pristine wilderness, but contrary to
what you may think- Antarctica is no longer an untouched environment that has avoided
human disturbance.
People have been travelling to the continent for the past 100 years, and have left an indelible
mark that has begun a downward spiral that could make it unrecognizable in a matter of
decades.
Worldwide problems, such as global warming and the hole in the ozone layer, have a more
pronounced effect on the southern continent, and have led to receding ice sheets and changing
weather conditions.
Besides that Antarctica has suffered mass whaling and seal hunting, soil contamination,
sewage dumping and widespread pollution.
It’s a place where, ironically, the very thing that attracts researchers and tourists
to the area is increasingly at risk because of human actions.
By the end of the century it could disappear entirely.
6.
Tikal National Park
Latin America has a great deal of sites of archaeological significance, and Tikal National
Park in northern Guatemala is no exception.
It’s one of the sites where the Maya civilisation lived between the 6th century BC and 10th
century AD, and served as a ceremonial center.
The park is particularly unusual because it has been declared a UNESCO world heritage
site for two reasons- its archaeological importance and the extraordinary biodiversity in the
region.
Amongst the remains left by the Maya, such as palaces, temples, ball-game courts, ceremonial
platforms and residences- there’s also a wide range of rare species that live there
like Jaguars, Pumas, Anteaters, more than 300 species of birds, 200 species of trees,
and over 2000 plants.
Sadly, though, the park is at risk- which is why UNESCO stepped in to try and help.
Deforestation has severely impacted the local wildlife, with hunters and the illegal trade
in big cats contributing to their decline as well.
Weathering is a concern to the ancient structures, because the intricate carvings are getting
gradually worn away by natural processes, and then there’s the problem of looters-
people stealing artefacts to sell on the black market.
This all means that there’s severe worries that the Tikal national park as it is today
is unlikely to last for much longer.
The government and authorities are trying to preserve it as best they can, but it often
seems like they are fighting an uphill battle.
5.
The Dead Sea
The Dead Sea is one of the most famous bodies of water on the planet.
It’s the one that has such high salinity that you can’t sink in it.
In fact, it has eight or nine times the amount of salt in it as the other oceans, and it
is so dense that it doesn’t even feel like water.
It’s kind of like jumping into a pool of olive oil and sand.
(So I’ve heard, I’ve never been there).
The reason for this is that the sea lies in the lowest place on earth, at around 1,380
feet below sea level, so while minerals can drain into it, there’s nowhere for them
to filter out.
It’s so low that your ears pop while travelling along the road that leads to it.
The unique qualities of the water, and the effect it has had on the surrounding land,
has meant that the Dead Sea has had an integral role to play for civilisations in the area
for thousands of years.
Even Cleopatra supposedly used products from the region in her beauty regime.
In recent times, though, the sea has begun to shrink at quite an alarming rate.
The surface level is falling by more than 3 feet every year, which has led to parts
of the sea receding by more than a mile and a half in less than a lifetime.
It’s not a case of global warming, or anything on a worldwide scale, but simply to do with
water usage.
The sea is the terminal point of the river Jordan.
All of its water comes from there, and there’s just not enough of it reaching the Dead Sea
anymore because it all gets used up further upstream.
Israel, for example, built a dam across part of the sea of Galilee, which feeds the river,
and has reduced the amount of water flowing into it.
Syria has also built more than 40 dams across the Yarmouk river, which feeds the River Jordan
too.
The results of this are much better water management for the people that live in the
countries that the rivers pass through, but a rapidly receding Dead Sea that will likely
one day dry up for good.
4.
The Seychelles
The Seychelles are a chain of more than 115 islands, in the Indian Ocean.
They are famous for their idyllic beaches, massive boulders, and giant tortoises.
Like so many low lying regions, though, they are under threat, and could possibly be nothing
more than a memory within our lifetimes.
The reefs around the islands have already suffered extreme losses due to the same bleaching
effects that have plagued Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
Without this natural defence against the powerful currents of the ocean, the picturesque beaches
are now being eroded much more quickly.
Add to this the threat of rising sea levels, storm surges, and hurricanes.
It’s thought that, in the worst case scenario, the islands will be completely consumed by
the sea within 50 years- leaving its 93,000 inhabitants with no choice but to consider
leaving, and threatening large numbers of animal species that are unique to the islands.
3.
The Everglades
The Everglades national park in Florida is well known for its crocodiles, alligators,
panthers, manatees, and countless other species- but the entire region is under threat.
It’s the largest subtropical wilderness reserve on the North American continent, and
has the biggest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere.
The wetlands themselves are particularly unique because all of the water is now derived from
rainfall, as opposed to being from a river or ocean like others usually are.
The area was formed following the last ice age, when an almost flat seabed was submerged
by the melting ice, and led to the growth of the marshes and forests that we see today.
The region is classed as being vulnerable, because of the consequences of clearing land
for agriculture, water diversion projects, and other developments.
During the last century, the eastern 12% of the Everglades was built over, and it’s
now thought that only 2% of the original ecosystem remains fully in tact.
2.
Venice
It’s the romantic capital of the world, attracting love birds from all over to waltz
and cavort through the streets, and take a gondola ride through the canals.
It’s also a hub of culture, with the opportunity to attend musical performances you’ll see
nowhere else- but Venice has a problem.
It is sinking.
The city is actually built on an island that’s in a lagoon, and as well as the water levels
rising, the city is lowering by 1 or 2 millimetres a year after centuries of building work that
has compressed the foundations.
Recently, it has also been discovered that the city is also slowly tilting to the east.
Despite many attempts to try and stabilize the city, it will ultimately prove to be a
losing battle.
While there are some human causes, there are also natural geographical factors to blame,
such as plate tectonics.
Venice sits on the Adriatic plate, which is moving beneath the Apennines mountains and
causing the whole region to lower.
While Venice may not be doomed in the short term, it’s definitely somewhere that is
slowly disappearing.
1.
Kiribati
Kiribati is likely the first populated region that will become uninhabitable in the world.
The archipelago consists of 33 coral atolls in a space of less than 1.5 square miles,
and has an average height of just 6.5 feet above sea level.
Like other low-lying countries, they are at serious risk of climate change- both from
rising sea levels, changing weather conditions, and the effects of the dying reefs which provide
a natural defence.
113,000 people live there, and they have begun to take action to try and prevent the imminent
dangers.
They have pleaded with the Australian government to help show other countries the effects caused
by global warming, and have stood on the world stage to inform world leaders.
Their attempts, though, haven’t led to much action, so it’s very possible that Kiribati
will be long gone before anyone takes note.
Thanks for watching!
Have you ever visited any of these places?
Let us know in the comments below!
Be sure to subscribe and see you next time!!