10 wonders of the world that may disappear in the next 20 years
Travel portal Budget Travel has compiled a list of ten wonders of the world that may disappear by 2030. The inevitability of death will attract an additional influx of tourists to the miracles. They will want to look at the sights of the Earth, which will soon be gone, experts say.
1 Belize Barrier Reef
The Belize Barrier Reef was already heavily damaged in 1998, losing up to 50% of corals in many places. Its corals are still bleaching, both due to global warming and human activities.
2. Congo Depression
The Congo Basin is the second largest jungle massif after the Amazon basin. By 2040, up to two thirds of the unique flora and fauna, according to the UN, will be lost if effective measures are not taken to protect them.
Forests are subjected to merciless cutting for the purpose of grazing, mines, and also during the guerrilla war in this region of Africa. A decrease in forest surface area leads to a reduction in carbon dioxide absorption, and hence rainfall, which contributes to climate change.
3. Dead Sea
Over the past four decades, its area has decreased by a third, and it has become shallow by 24 meters. Former beaches are now one and a half kilometers further from the coastline. Water in the Dead Sea comes only from the Jordan River, but the countries surrounding it take more and more water from the river. As a result, in 50 years the Dead Sea will not exist at all.
Moreover, the manufacturers of cosmetics and potassium carbonate are constantly depleting the mineral reserves of the seabed.
4. Everglades National Park (Florida, USA)
The swamps that occupy the main part of its territory are subject to pollution from the surrounding farms, as well as the invasion of alien living creatures.
Not to mention that 60% of the local water is pumped out for delivery to nearby cities and farms.
As a result, the area of the park - the only place where the Florida panther lives - has already halved since 1900. Within 40 years, the Florida panther, like 20 other animal species, may disappear completely.
5. Madagascar
If the forests of this island African state are not saved, in 35 years they will be completely cut down and burned, and their inhabitants will die out. Reserves occupy only 5% of the island, preventing animals from moving safely throughout Madagascar.
Some of the island's rare animal species have not even been studied and registered, and may become extinct before they can be explored.
6. Maldives
If global warming continues, these islands, rising just over two meters above sea level, will be flooded. In 2008, the President of the State already announced the acquisition of land in other countries, in particular, in India, for the resettlement of citizens who were forced to leave their homes flooded by the ocean. In 2009, to emphasize the coming danger, he held a government meeting underwater.
7. North and South Poles
Global warming threatens 80% of Antarctica's emperor penguins with extinction. In the Arctic, the destruction threatens polar bears, because along with the melting of polar ice, entire ecosystems, including food chains, are dying. New ice massifs will stop forming in Antarctica within 20-40 years.
8. Tiger population
More than half of the world's tigers live in India. In total, there are 3,200 of them left in the wild in the world, while in 1900 there were 100,000 of them in India alone. Completely tigers can become extinct in 12 years. For the needs of Chinese traditional medicine, an average of one tiger per day is killed. Reserves for tigers exist, but they do not provide reliable female migration routes necessary for the full reproduction of the population.
9. Jungle Tahuamanu (Peru)
In the Peruvian province of Madre de Dios, there are almost the last mahogany reserves in the world. And it grows in the jungle of Tahuamanu. But due to illegal logging, they are declining. The US buys about 80% of the mahogany. After all, from every tree you can make furniture worth a million dollars.
Lumberjacks build roads that allow farmers and hunters to enter the jungle, which in turn disturbs the indigenous people and destroys the ecosystem. In addition, gold mining that is carried out in neighboring areas leads to air and water pollution with mercury.
10. Yangtze River Basin
Many observers, including Chinese officials, have already acknowledged that most of the flora and fauna that inhabit this natural region is under threat of extinction.
This is due to deforestation, the construction of dams and the formation of reservoirs. There is also the danger of an earthquake.
Tourist flows can have a dual effect on the corners of nature: on the one hand, they obviously worsen the ecological state of the unique places on the Earth, only accelerating their death. On the other hand, local governments can spend tourism revenue on measures to preserve natural wonders.
Keywords: Ten | Earth | Wonder of the world