Sydney Opera House, Statue of Liberty Could Be Lost to Rising Seas
Famous global landmarks including the Statue of Liberty, Tower of London and Sydney Opera House will be lost to rising seas caused by climate change, scientists have warned.
Even with just a further 3°C of warming - well within the range to which the UN climate science panel expects temperatures to rise by the end of the century - nearly one-fifth of the planet’s 720 world heritage sites will affected as ice sheets melt and warming oceans expand.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, looked at how many Unesco sites would be threatened after 2000 years of rising sea levels, but the authors said the first impacts would “definitely” be felt much sooner without action on flood defences.
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