Earth Day - Places to Remember before Disappear

The Newsweek has released a list of 100 famous spots in its latest issue and predicted all of them might disappear because of global warming and tremendous changes of geography.

The most famous of them are:

Bering Sea, Russia and U.S. (Photo Source: huanqiu.com)

The Bering Sea provides almost half the seafood caught in the U.S. and is also home to sea lions, walruses, polar bears, endangered whales, and more than 30 species of seabird. Warming up of the oceans has severely impacted the biodiversity in this region. The ice laver in the northern part has already reduced now than just a few decades ago, and it melts earlier.

Sulu-Sulawesi Sea (Photo Source: huanqiu.com)

The Sulu-Sulawesi Sea, with neighboring Indonesian Seas and South China Sea, lies at the center of the world's tropical marine biodiversity. The coral ecosystems here are some of the most diverse on Earth, with more than 450 species of scleractinian, or stony, corals -- compared to 50 in the Caribbean and approximately 200 in the western Indian Ocean.

Encircled by three populous, developing nations, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, the Sea and its adjacent coastal and terrestrial ecosystems support about 33 million people, most with subsistence livelihoods heavily reliant on their renewable natural resources. But these resources are being impacted severely by rapid population growth and over-fishing.

Rub' al Khali desert, Saudi Arabia (Photo Source: huanqiu.com)

The Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter) desert, covering about 250,000 square miles (650,000 square km) in a structural basin lying mainly in southeastern Saudi Arabia, with lesser portions in Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. It is the largest area of continuous sand in the world. It occupies more than one-quarter of Saudi Arabia.

For several centuries, the Bedouin communities have been the only people with the skills to survive in Rub al-Khali's wild desert. They raise livestock with the local vegatation. But the ecological systemhere is very fragile due to the surging temperature.

Indus River, Pakistan (Photo Source: huanqiu.com)
The Indus River derives from the glaciers of Himalaya and is more than 3,000 kilometers long. It breeds the forests, plates and villages along the way, which makes it become the most important source of irrigation water.

The shrink of glaciers and irregular changes of rainfall could intensify the problem of local water shortage.

Islands of Komodo, Indonesia (Photo Source: huanqiu.com)

The islands of Komodo in Indonesia is best-known for its clear sea and multitudinous tropical marine life, which makes it become the Mecca of global divers. What more famous on Komodo is the largest lizard in the world -- Komodo Dragon.

The rising of sea level has already threatened the existence of the costal mangrove and beach. Meanwhile, the acidification and temperature changes of sea water might kill the coral around the islands.

Maldives (Photo Source: huanqiu.com)

Maldives is an archipelago country, which consists of 1,200 islands, in the Indian Ocean. It is best-known for its picturesque scenery:　White beach, swaying palm trees, colorful corals and abundant sunshine.

80 percent of average elevation of Maldives is lower than one meter. If the sea level keeps on rising for global climate change, this beautiful paradise might disappear underneath the sea water sooner or later.

Panama Canal, Panama (Photo Source: huanqiu.com)

When Panama Canal opened in 1914, it revolutionized the history of shipping by providing an alternative to the southern route around Cape Horn. About 4 percent of yearly world trade now passes through the canal. Due to 26-meter-high altitude difference between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, raising and lowering ships require vast amounts of increasingly scarce fresh water. Shortages have forced several closures in recent years.

Chacaltaya, Bolivia (Photo Source: huanqiu.com)

This snow-covered peak of 5425-meter-high Chacaltaya towers over than La Paz, the Bolivian capital.

The Chacaltaya Glacier has existed for more than 18,000 years. Its melting water is the important water resource for residents in La Paz. But in the past 20 years, the volume of the Chacaltaya Glacier has reduced 80 percent. With temperatures expected to continue to rise, the glacier could eventually disappear completely.


Columbia River, U.S. (Photo Source: huanqiu.com)

Forming much of the border between the states of Oregon and Washington, the Columbia River is the largest North American river, by volume, that flows into the Pacific Ocean. Every year, salmons hatch in the river, migrate downstream to the Pacific Ocean. After growing up, they will return against the current to breed. To meet with needs of electric energy, people construct dam on the Columbia River, which severely threatens the existence of salmons. Meanwhile, as the rising temperatures, salmons will face more challenges.

Trinidad, Cuba (Photo Source: huanqiu.com)

The town of Trinidad is renowned for its well-preserved Spanish colonial architectures. It has been declared as the World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Including Trinidad, the whole Cuba lies in the path of hurricanes, which always threaten the safety of local residents and colonial architectures. Now the Cubans are making efforts on reinforce buildings against more severe storms.

Explore hundreds more photos of the places should be remembered from all over the world from my source:
http://search.news.cn/language/search.jspa?id=en&t=1&t1=0&ss=&ct=&n1=Places+to+remember+before+they+disappear+&x=31&y=16