Got your passport and itchy feet in search of a vacation destination? Consider this first. It's not a scared-straight story on global warming I promise — it's a traveler's perspective on how the world's climate and it's info served up like a gorgeous guidebook — and, I'll admit, food for thought. ProTraveller put together this list of 20 places that are ripe to change dramatically if the world heats up — and it's a where's where of dream vacations.
Here's part of their list, and some info that caught my eye:
- Great Barrier Reef, Australia
- Virgin Islands, Caribbean
- Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean
- Galapagos Islands, Pacific Ocean (pictured here)
- Belize Barrier Reef, Belize
- Red Sea Reefs, Egypt
- Tokyo, Japan — This major international city is in some serious danger; its temperatures have been rising five times faster than the average global warming rate around the world.
- London, United Kingdom — Scientists say that the city could be underwater as early as within the next one hundred years.
- New York City, USA
- New Orleans, USA
- Jakarta, Indonesia — The capital city of Indonesia has already experienced serious flooding last year, which many believe was a direct result of the climate change affecting the world. With more than twenty million people living in its metropolitan area, Jakarta is a city that has a lot to lose if the global warming issue continues unabated.
With Britain already having its warmest May since 1772 and alarming weather becoming a mainstay, it's nice to be reminded of the beauty we need to take care of — sans PowerPoint. (Sorry Al.)
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V.I.K
Butterfly
Meltin Pot
how is this NOT alarmist?
1Okay, I see your point--though I'd like to think it inspired me to think, rather than freak out. And I'd just never seen a "global warming" story that was so beautifully done. That's all
2I know, I know. It's just funny you prefaced it with not being alarmist.
Did they give a projected timeline?
3I bet in 1772, they thought the excessive warm weather was here to stay too.
4Old news...
5I noticed India made the list, but not Bangladesh. It might be just in the armpit of the rest of the subcontinent, but Bangladesh is a country sinking dramatically. If Hurricane Sidr hadn't been enough, the country is looking at another terrible storm season along with the monsoon.
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/climate-migration/
6Wow, I just checked out the whole article. Sad.
7Intersting. I feel like growing up in CA that people used to say that the coast was also at risk.
8I thought the great barrier reef WAS underwater already....
9UnDave, that's funny. I was curious so I read the article and it said that the reef, due to high temperatures in the ocean, will have a negative impact. But I had the same thought! Are they also going to include Atlantis?
10LONDON?! %@$#!!!!
11I'm surprised that I did not see Venice Italy on the last unless I missed it. I watched a documentary either on Discovery or History about it and it was referred to as the sinking city.
As for New Orleans I question whether it would even be on the list if it wasn't for the decades of dredging to make the channel deep enough for ships to pass. The Mississippi river naturally dumps sediment at the mouth of the gulf which over time builds up land mass. Resulting in a natural barrier (wet lands) which provide protection from flooding. We tried to compensate for the loss of wet lands with a levy system and obviously that did not work too well.
12I'm with you Jude. London is my favorite place on the planet.
13Yeah--I'd better move there before it starts sinking
14I think global warming is the largest scam in history. The temps have risen and fell throughout time. I'm sick of all of the environmentalist wackos.
15I get so fascinated when these stories are linked to Yahoo, I just like to keep hitting refresh to see how many people read it for those like 10 seconds!
16Ah, it's started already...
cabaker.
17we have to be alarm, this is just one of the many SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
18
Run before they get here! 
19global warming is a hoax. thats all there is to it. it has been scientifically proven that the yay sayers are wrong and the nay sayers are right. i still think that people are the leading cause of polution, and thus we should do something about the population. so i say let the wars continue until this planets population is at normal levels.
20It is alarmist. UK may be having the warmest May but the earth had the coldest April. And 2007 actually got cooler. Let's go for some balance!
21Global warming is a hoax created by self serving socialist who seek to control people.
22Give up the global warming idea. Human beings are just ants compared to what a super volcano can do. Besides, this planet was known as the watery Tiamat. Someday, it may go back to being just that, with or without a bunch of little ants burning fossil fuels.
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24Great Barrier reef *is* underwater. It's visited for the coral reefs, right? Corals are susceptible to temperature variations, in effect killing them, resulting in "bleaching" or coral patches dying.
Some of the european cities aren't just subject to rising water levels but floods too. London and Venice both have pretty elaborate flood barriers.
25Why do people write such stupidity and not check out facts first. First off the rate of sea level increase has not changed for thousands of years. Second, according to the data that scientists gathered from over 800 bouys at in the world's oceans the temperature of the worlds oceans has actually gone down 1 degree since they started taking measurements. Third the average world temperature went down 1 degree last year and wiped out the total increase for the last 10 years before that. 30 years ago some of the same scientists were worried about the earth going into an early ice age. Think people and stop listening to Al Gore.
26"i still think that people are the leading cause of polution"
I don't think that was ever in doubt...
With that being said, since it is a fact that we as a species are polluting the earth and are damaging the environment, perhaps it would be wiser to focus less on who's right about global warming (or who's right about its severity and eventual apocalyptic--or not--consequences), and more on what we can do to mitigate the damage we definitely have done to the world we live in.
27Sea levels have been rising and the polar ice caps melting since the end of the last ice age.
Presently they're rising at a fraction of a millimeter per year.
Meanwhile it's no warmer than it was 10 years ago - in fact it's cooler than it was last year and the year before that and the year before that.
Lastly, there's always "weird weather" - the suggestion that somehow the Burmese cyclones were caused by global warming is baseless.
So I would suggest to you that we have plenty of time before London or Manhattan sink into the ocean.
28I'd love to get out to one of these places that the Global Warming Mafia has put on the endangered list; however, I've got to sell my lush, green ski resort in Tennesse that I bought in the late 70's when we were told the next Ice Age was coming! I can't believe that people gobble this stuff up like it was healthy.
29GLOBAL WARMING IS NOT A HOAX- AL GORE IS THE HOAX. GLOBAL WARMING AND COOLING IS A NATURAL OCCURRANCE AND WE ARE DUE FOR A GLOBAL COOLING PROCESS SOON. I JUST HOPE IT STABILIZES BEFORE WE LOSE ALL OF THESE BEAUTIFUL PLACES.
30He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.
You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.
-God
31(Psalms 104: 5-9)
You people need to get a hold of the March April 2008 Issue of the MENSAN magazine....there are a lot of contradictions to the global paradigm of the Earth is Warming Up and we are in a lot of trouble.......read it and then ask yourself why would these smart people, influential people, and rich people be pushing something that really isn't a real threat....why indeed.
The Earth hasn't raised more than .8 degrees since the 1800's and in some places gotten cooler, and then others stayed the same for great lengths of time.
Somebody has something to sell, it hasn't quite hit yet but it is going to be big....something that we will all have to have....it may even be sanctioned by the Government as mandatory...they may give credits for it....to ease the cost..but I am betting soon...next 2 years or 3.
Why are gas prices so high..if A: There is no Shortage(OPEC) admits it..B: Our reserves are full 97%...and C: Oil companies are putting down double digit billions profit on their books.
This is not a political shot..but when Clinton was in office do you remember gas being at .70-.80 a gallon...just what is so different from now and then....WAR and 911 excluded.
32Al Gore is a hoax!
That is my new catch phrase!
33Other than the global warming alarm, this story is of little interest to me. I have done extensive research on global warming and the real science is that the antarctic glacier is actually thickening, and there has been no rise in sea level. The alarmists do not want you to know this little fact either but, people have zero influence on the slightly warmer climate lately.
34Holy crap! This is one of the stupidest articles ever written! Please don't write on stuff you have no idea about! It sure isn't any warmer here in Michigan.. Find a real topic to talk about. This has been scientifically disproven but nobody know that. They only know what silly writers type about. You should have to sit on your hands for a day for this!!!
35Yep, and pretty soon, California is going to be an island due to the fault line moving away from Central California. It's a lie too. Actually, in a billion years or so, San Francisco will be a "sister city" of Seattle. "It was the hottest May since 1772". So you're saying it was hotter over 240 years ago...sound cyclical to me. Why don't we worry about how much smog we breathe (which is killing us now) instead of things that will make our world look ugly thousands of years from now. Buy a hybrid and cut back on driving until hydrogen cars come out. Quit yelling at Bush because the democratic congress is holding his initiatives back. Start yelling at them because he's done more for global warming than Clinton ever did.
36Let the games begin...
and 
unite!
37I think this article is hogwash! Has anyone really explored the science surrounding global warming? Does anyone know what this fight against the climate is going to cost you, the everyday consumer? I think the govt is trying to implement a new social agency with the taxes collected from those who "warm" the earth.......lol
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39It does have a nice ring to it, cabaker!
Oh, and
40This is what happens when people like Al Gore are taken seriously.
41Another scare tactic by the left. The world has actually been cooling over the last few years, but Al Gore says were in trouble, so we must be. Just ask him. I have some swamp land to sell. Any buyers?
The world is a much tougher place than it's given credit for. It will easilly survive, so will we!!!
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43Nice to see that Universities are pumping out educated morons and calling them jounalists. I guess you missed the latest and greatest science that says the earth hasn't warmed in 10 years and we're now probably facing a 15-20 year cooling trend. Research 101.
44ABSLUTELY RIGHT AMANDA- BUT YOU WILL BE AMAZED HOW MANY GLOBAL WARMING SHEEP WILL BE STANDING IN LINE TO BUY AL SHEEPHEARDER GORE'S CARBON CREDITS, AND HE IS LAUGHING AWAY IN HIS JET AS WE SPEAK.
45yay! you just disproved Global Warming with your statement....
With Britain already having its warmest May since 1772 and alarming weather
So unless there was some massive global warming in 1772, I think that there is nothing to worry about, this is all normal fluctuations in the weather.
I am so sick of alarmists..... Turn an ant hill into a volcano!
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47I think this global warming stuff is crazy. I think that we should do our part to reduce pollution..but the earth is going to do what it wants with cooling and warming. And I am tired of people complaining about America with the global warming. I just read an article in National Geographic about China, and they have a much bigger problem with pollution than we do. Also, I live in Ohio and the average temp. for this time of year is in the 70s..and its 57 degrees right now. One of the record highs was in the 1800's, and it was 91 degrees. This article even said that Britian is having its warmest May since 1772..so that should tell us something right there..its a process the earth goes through.
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49I believe in global warming or some other human force altering the planet. How else do you explain this insane weather, ice caps melting, animals going endangered, etc, etc.
How depressing this post is! BVI is one of my favorite vacation spots. And I dream about going to Tokyo and London.
I *hope* that we can take some action to prevent such a tragedy.
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