10 places on the Earth that are worth visiting before they completely disappear.
1.Dampier Rock Art Complex, Australia
The biggest collection of pieces of rock painting in the world, dated 10000 B.C. Industrial development has already damaged 24% of petroglyphs, and recent finding of natural gas in this area constitutes one more threat to petroglyphs.
2. Sonargaon-Panam City, Bangladesh
This ancient city has preserved architecture of XV – XIX centuries. The city may soon disappear due to floods, constantly increasing sea level, earthquakes and vandalism.
3. Chinguetti Mosque, Mauritania, West Africa
The Medieval church Chinguetti, Mauritania, West Africa, found in one of the seven holy cities of Islam, was built in the 13th century. Merchants of the Sahara Desert used to stay here in the old days. This mosque is under constant threat of desert invasion, extreme temperatures and soil erosion.
4. Panama Canal
The Panama Canal, one of the most impressive achievements of engineering, is still used by the International Shipping Federation. Almost 40 vessels pass through this canal every day. However, the amount of silt is constantly increasing, which may lead to impossibility of using the canal for passage of vessels.
5. Dhangkar Gompa, India
One of the main Buddhist temples was built approximately 1000 years ago. This temple was found in a remote area at the border of India and Tibet. Soil erosion in the hill where the temple is situated may lead to its complete destruction.
6. Old Damascus, Syria
One of the most ancient inhabited towns in the world. Its sites are referred to in numerous Christian and Islamic religious sources.
7. Babylon, Iraq
Situated 80 km to the south of Baghdad, Babylon initially was the city of Mesopotamia, considered by many people the cradle of civilization. 2300 B.C. many people also believed Babylon to be a holy city. This ancient city was damaged as a result of armed conflicts in Iraq.
8. Leh Old Town, India
Leh Old Town, the ancient capital of the kingdom Ladakh, is a medieval town, famous for its monasteries, as well as for diversity of wild nature. The monuments of ancient architecture are being gradually destroyed by rainfalls.
9. The Coral Triangle, Sulu and Sulawesi Seas
The Coral Triangle with more than 450 types of corals is situated in the seas between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. According to the recent research, carried out by Johns Hopkins University, 70 percent of coral reefs in the seas of South East Asia are under threat of destruction because of poachers and fishers who use cyanide and dynamite, as well as industrial pollution.
10. Greenland
Ice covers approximately 81% of Greenland and makes up 1/20 of the total amount of ice in the world. If this layer melts, Greenland shall split and become an archipelago, and the famous glaciers shall disappear. Polar bears shall be deprived of their habitat, and the quickly melting ice may lead to mass flooding. |