2 more natural wonders to add to your travel bucket-list before they disappear
Do you put off travel, thinking that there will always be time to tick things off your bucket list? Well there are some natural wonders in the world that won’t wait for you. Pollution, global warming or just good old-fashioned age has put an expiry date on these destinations. See them before they disappear – forever.
Glacier National Park, Montana (pictured)
In the early 1900s there were more than 150 glaciers in the Glacier National Park. In 2005 there were 25 and scientists fear that that number could be zero as early as 2020. As winters become shorter and warmer, many glaciers have become rocky snowfields and even these are expected to disappear in the near future. Rare plants that grow around the glaciers edge will die out, while animals, fish and birds that rely on the water will have to move from their traditional territories. Many local ski resorts have closed as they can no longer guarantee snow cover and there are serious implications for the towns and farms that rely on the mountain’s water supply to survive.
Mesoamerican Reef
Australians tend to focus on the damage that climate change and industry are doing to our own natural wonder, the Great Barrier Reef, but off the coast of Central America the Mesoamerican Reef is dying at a much faster rate. Stretching more than 1,000 kilometres from Mexico to Honduras, a worldwide bleaching event in 1998 damaged up to 50 per cent of the coral and pollution, shipping lanes, hurricanes and overdevelopment for tourism continue to damage the reef. Coral is still dying off and numerous species of turtles, sharks and whale sharks are in danger of losing their habitat.