Some of the world's most beautiful places are the same ones most threatened by climate change.
We've all heard about the harmful effects of global warming on the world's plants, animals, and other environmental elements, but there's another, less obvious component that suffers, too: tourism.For example, in 2018 scientists from the University of Sydney discovered that climate change was a key factor in the crumbling and demise of Angkor Wat—a tourist site in Cambodia and cradle of the ancient Khmer empire.
Plus, the air temperature rises too because ice is reflective—without it more heat can penetrate the atmosphere. This causes further destruction of land habitat and increased natural disasters such as storms, wildfires and flooding. TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP // Getty Images Fiji Fiji is a stunning island in the South Pacific that attracts tourists to its pristine waters every year for world-class snorkelling and scuba diving. However, the coastal regions have begun eroding due to rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Pixabay // Pexels Stonehenge Set atop Salisbury Plain in England, Stonehenge draws roughly 1.5 million visitors to its giant stone circles. Yet UNESCO warned in 2016 that the prehistoric monument is in danger due to rising sea levels, more intense storms, and a deteriorating coastline of which 17% is already eroding throughout the U.K. “Climate change will alter the environmental conditions at these monuments and their associated landscapes,” the report stated.
Phil Walter // Getty Images The Great Barrier Reef, Australia Few places on Earth have more quickly witnessed the effects of climate change than the Great Barrier Reef, which has suffered an 89% decrease in new coral, according to a report released April 2019 and published in the journal Nature. Anton_Ivanov // Shutterstock Machu Picchu, Peru Nestled in the Andes Mountains of Peru, Machu Picchu drew 1.5 million tourists to the famous Inca ruins in 2018. However, conservationists are worried that the site could be damaged if climate change continues to affect the weather. Historically fairly dry, the citadel has seen increasingly heavy rains that sparked Peru's protected areas advisor to express concern: “Machu Picchu normally gets about two metres of rain in the rainy season...
12019 // Wikimedia Commons Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro is a vibrant city in Brazil—the country's second largest metropolis—which brings large amounts of tourists to its stunning coastlines every year, not to mention to its spectacular Carnival festival. But the brightly coloured city might not be able to dazzle tourists much longer. It's currently predicted to be the city in South America most negatively affected by climate change.
“If current climatological conditions are sustained, the ice fields atop Kilimanjaro and on its flanks will likely disappear within several decades,” the report warned. Since then, the mountain has been included on multiple lists of “last chance tourism.” Fish Ho Hong Yun // Shutterstock Borneo, Indonesia Borneo is an island in southeast Asia that's brimming with lush tropical jungle which attracts wildlife tourists—particularly those interested in catching a glimpse of the elusive Bornean orangutan. With fewer than 800 left in the world , the endangered primate has already been driven nearly to extinction by logging and deforestation. Climate change, it seems, may put the nail in the coffin.
VN STOCK // Shutterstock Mekong Delta, Vietnam Southeast Asia is one of the most vulnerable places on earth to the effects of climate change. Its stunningly diverse Mekong Delta, which encompasses more than 38,849 square kilometres of southern Vietnam, is one of the key tourist attractions at risk. Chumash Maxim // Shutterstock The Maldives Set in the turquoise waters of the Arabian Sea, the Republic of the Maldives archipelago is one of the world's most popular tropical island destinations, catering to a higher end, luxury crowd.
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