The Purple Passport

According to the National Geographic website, there are indeed some places in this world. If you don’t set out now, they will disappear from this planet forever. The National Geographic website recently listed 9 such tourist destinations with a “shelf life”:

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Dead sea

Dreaming about floating leisurely on the surface of the Dead Sea? Then go quickly. In the past 40 years, due to excessive diversion, the water level of this lake has dropped by 80 feet (approximately 25 meters). This sense of crisis is similar in the other eight travel destinations listed this time.

The Dead Sea is an inland lake located between Jordan and Israel. In fact, the Dead Sea itself is already the lowest point on the earth. In the 1950s, countries in the Middle East, including Jordan and Israel, cut off the water from the Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea as their own water supply. As a result, the amount of water flowing into the Dead Sea was greatly reduced. This move has greatly reduced the water level of the Dead Sea, and this trend continues to this day-up to a drop of nearly 1 meter per year.

However, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, the “National Red Sea Development Project” being implemented by the Jordanian authorities will likely improve this terrible situation. The project plans to draw water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea and implement strict environmental governance. Other supporting measures.

Kyoto, Japan

As the historic Japanese city of Kyoto continues to modernize, according to Erica Avrami, many ancient machiya buildings here are being destroyed. Erica is the Director of Research and Education at the World Heritage Site Foundation.

Erica said: “This is understandable in an environment of growing prosperity. But at the same time, these are important historical relics. It is very important to ensure that they are not lost.”

The history of machiya or machiya can be traced back to the Edo period in Japan, when it was a dual-purpose house used by Japanese merchants to live and work. The World Heritage Foundation has included Japanese Machiya on the 2010-2012 Annual Observation List, and is working closely with related organizations in Japan to try to repair some of the damaged Machiya buildings. Erica said: “The action on the machiya represents a concerted effort to find a balance between the new and the old, as well as the traditional culture and urban development.”

Solomon Islands

Large groups of blacktip reef sharks gather near Tetapare, the largest uninhabited tropical island in the southern hemisphere. According to Robin Moore, an amphibians expert at Conservation International, so far, this island has not yet encountered the bad luck of other islands in the Solomon Islands, which have been almost unscrupulously deforested. Destroyed. Moore said: “If you go to Tarapa, you can see a truly pristine island paradise. You can swim with dugongs and a large group of blacktip reef sharks.”

Glacier National Park, Montana

Glacier National Park in Montana, USA, may soon face a serious dilemma of misnomer: some scientists predict that due to climate change, the glaciers here will completely disappear by 2020 or so.

Glacier National Park was founded in 1910. According to the data released by the US Geological Survey’s “Survey on the Impact of Mountain Ecosystems on Climate Change” project, there were 150 glaciers in the park at that time. But today, only a century later, in 2010, there are only 25 glaciers left here, covering only 25 acres (approximately 10 hectares).

According to the information published on the project team’s website: “The loss of glaciers in the park will have a significant impact on the ecosystem in the park, and these glaciers have been cherished by tourists for a long time.” For example, the loss of glaciers as a water source storage place , And regularly replenish the rivers when the season changes, the local water temperature will rise, which will cause some types of aquatic species to become extinct due to the inability to adapt to environmental changes, including some species of trout and salmon.

Bhutan

Director Ephrami of the World Heritage Foundation said: “As the long-isolated landlocked country Bhutan gradually begins to contact the world, this Buddhist country must balance the development of tourism with maintaining its historical traditions. ”

For example, the monks living in the remote Phajoding temple in the country must maintain their religious customs, but at the same time they must also welcome tourists. The more tourists that arrive, the more difficult it is to maintain a balance between the two. Ephrami said: “As this country is changing, it is opening its doors to tourism. Therefore, if you want to see the original ecology of Bhutan, you should act now.”

South America, Atlantic Forest

This photo was taken in 2004 in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, where the famous Atlantic Forest is located. The original area of ​​this forest is 520,000 square miles (about 1.35 million square kilometers), and the area spans Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay. However, due to the development of logging and agriculture, the area of ​​this forest today is less than 7% of the original area, and it is mainly scattered and isolated in sporadic shapes, some of which are less than 6 acres (approximately 2.4 hectares). Moore of Conservation International recommends that you go to Bahia, Brazil, and live in the local eco-hotel. He said: “Here you can also experience the last cover of this once-prosperous Atlantic forest.”

Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

According to data released by the United Nations, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa is known as the “Equatorial Snow Mountain”. The glaciers here have existed for at least 10,000 years, but in the past half century, the glaciers here have shrunk sharply by more than 80 %. For this highest peak in Africa, global warming and changes in local land use may have caused the shrinking and degradation of glaciers here.

But whatever the reason, if you go, then pack your bags now! Just in 2009, scientists made a prediction that, as the American writer Hemingway wrote, the snow of Kilimanjaro will disappear forever around 2022.

Florida Wetlands

The wetlands of southern Florida in the United States are facing severe tests, from the invasion of exotic species such as pythons, to the pollution of water bodies, to recreational activities that harm the environment (such as the yacht in the photo). However, all of these are not the deadliest. According to data from the National Park Service, as the sea level rises in the next few decades, when the water surface here is completely occupied by sea water, the internal ecosystem hidden in this wetland will be permanently changed.

According to data from the U.S. Global Change Research Project, global drilling sampling, tide measurements, and satellite data all show that in the past century, the global average sea level has risen by 4 to 8 inches (approximately 10 to 20 inches). cm).

According to some people’s inference, once the salt water invades the ecology of the wetland national park, the ecology here will be completely subverted. In addition, the shallow water marsh area in the park will also experience severe shrinkage, and this marsh is home to many species, including the endangered seaside finches defined by the U.S. government.

Maldives

The smog on Slavs Island in the Maldives is burning domestic garbage here. The Maldives is one of the countries with the lowest altitude in the world. As the sea level rises, this country is facing a serious threat. According to the estimates of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), by 2099, the global sea level will rise by approximately 23 inches (approximately 60 centimeters).

Only 200 of the 1,192 islands in the Maldives are inhabited. Experts said that if sea levels continue to rise, especially in the Indian Ocean region, the crisis facing this country will be more severe, especially in the relatively lower-lying capital Male region.