Doomsday Tourism: See Natural Wonders Before They’re Gone Forever

As the world rapidly changes in response to global warming, people are beginning to realize a hard truth: we only have a limited amount of time left before many of these endangered destinations vanish altogether. Habitats are shrinking and changing; species are dying; the sea level is rising. That’s driving a large increase in what has been dubbed ‘doomsday tourism’ – a surge in travelers visiting the places most threatened by global warming.

From Forbes.com:

The Nature Conservancy’s list of endangered destinations includes the Sonoran & Chihuahuan desert borderlands, the Patagonian grasslands of Argentina and the Great Lakes in the U.S. and Canada. In these places the threats range from rapid population growth to invasive species to land use practices. Also on the list are the arid lands of Namibia, the Appalachians, and stretches of the West Indian Ocean coastline.

Travelers looking to explore these places have numerous options. The National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that promotes thoughtful forms of tourism, has created innovative maps for visitors to Mexico’s Sonora desert and the Appalachians. The maps feature not only attractions like wildlife refuges and state parks, but also recommendations on local cultural events, food vendors and eco-friendly hotels and resorts.

Of course, hoards of people stomping around, disturbing wildlife and producing trash isn’t exactly beneficial to the endangered areas.  We’ve already messed up the world to a disgusting extent; it’s all too easy to imagine ‘doomsday tourism’ accelerating the destruction of such places. So, hopefully, as people travel to vulnerable areas, they’ll remember that limiting their footprint should be at the top of their priorities.

Link [Forbes]
Photo credit: Flickr user alex.ch

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