7 Places You've Got to See Before They're Gone

Climate change threatens these natural wonders
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 13, 2014 4:30 PM CDT
7 Places You've Got to See Before They're Gone
In this undated file photo, a diver swims on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.   (AP Photo/Brain Cassey, File)

Thanks to climate change, some of the planet's greatest natural wonders are in danger, Time notes. Megan Gibson lists 10 that you shouldn't miss before they disappear:

  1. Great Barrier Reef, Australia: It could be gone within a century as ocean temperatures climb and the reef suffers from pollution.
  2. Venice, Italy: Not only is it sinking, it's dealing with worsening floods. Like the Great Barrier Reef, it could be uninhabitable within 100 years.
  3. Dead Sea: Forty years have seen it shrink by a third. Its only source is the River Jordan—and nearby countries keep pulling water from the river.

  1. Glacier National Park, Montana: It's got fewer than 25 glaciers these days; it once had 150. Get there before 2030, when they could all be gone, Gibson writes.
  2. Maldives: It's the world's lowest-lying country—and it could be completely underwater within a century thanks to rising sea levels.
  3. Seychelles: Another beautiful site that could disappear underwater within 50 to 100 years, the 115 islands in the Indian Ocean are facing beach erosion and coral destruction.
  4. Alps: Their glacial ice melts at a rate of about 3% per year; the glaciers might not be there in 2050.
Click for the full list. (More Great Barrier Reef stories.)

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