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

Before and After Images of Global Devastation Hotspots

Skeptical about human impact on the environment? WeHeartWorld has taken UNEP’s Atlas of our Changing Environment, which shows hotspots of human destruction around the world, and picked 11 places that portray the most dramatic changes through satellite imaging.  There’s absolutely no doubt that the human race has negatively affected these areas, which include regions of Spain, Mozambique, Tanzania and China, among others.  We’ve diverted rivers, cut down forests, wasted water resources and set fire to ancient trees. We’ve destroyed ecosystems, killed billions of animals, turned entire regions from lush, fertile lands to dry, near-barren deserts.

Here are two of WeHeartWorld’s picks.  Judge for yourself, and check out the rest at WeHeartWorld.com.

Almeria, Spain

This pair of satellite images shows the impact of massive and rapid agricultural development in Almeria Province along Spain’s southern coast.

In the earlier image, the landscape reflects rather typical rural agricultural land use. In the 2000 image, much of the same region-an area covering roughly 20 000 hectares (49 421 acres) - has been converted to intensive greenhouse agriculture for the mass production of market produce.

Greenhouse-dominated land appears as whitish gray patches.

In order to address increasingly complex water needs throughout Spain, the government adopted the Spanish National Hydrological Plan (SNHP) in 2001.

Initially, this water redistribution plan involved the construction of 118 dams and 22 water transfer projects that would move water from parts of the country where it was relatively abundant to more arid regions.

In 2004, the Spanish government announced it would begin exploring more environmentally friendly water-saving technologies, such as wastewater recycling and seawater desalinization.

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

“Where People Go, Nature Dies”

Santa Cruz is situated in Bolivia’s rich, fertile lowlands, a region highly suitable for agriculture.

In the 1975 satellite image, the region’s forested landscape appears as a dense, essentially unbroken expanse of deep green that extends to the Rio Grande (Guapay) River.  It was beautiful from the sky and on the ground.

By 1986 roads had been built that linked the region to other population centers.

As a result, large numbers of people migrated to the area.

A large agricultural development effort (the Tierras Baja project) led to widespread deforestation as forests were clear-cut and converted to pastures and cropland.

By 2003, almost the entire region had been converted to agricultural lands, including the area east of La Esperanza across the river.

In the area north and west of Los Cafes (upper left), notice the grid of squares on the landscape, each with an internal star-shaped pattern.

At the center of each square is a small community.

We’re doing such a great job taking care of this planet to ensure that it’s still hospitable for generations down the road, aren’t we? People suck.

Link [WeHeartWorld]

It Goes By So Fast: One Hundred People, One Hundred Years, One Little Snare Drum

This isn’t exactly green, but it couldn’t be more Human. One drum, one hundred people, age 1-100. Pure Awesome.

Video: It Looks Like You’ve Got a Case of The Humans

Looks like you’ve got a case of the Humans!

Animals vs. Humans: Humanity Gets Pwned

It’s no stretch to say that in the ongoing war of Animals vs. Humans, we’re in the firm hold of the lead. Humanity and all our endeavors have killed gazillions of animals, both endangered and tasty (sometimes both!) over the past couple hundred thousand years or so.

Here’s a crazy video showing Animals getting a little payback and attacking the shit out of people. It’s hard to feel too bad for some of the folks getting smacked down in the video, especially the guy branding the horse. There is no blood or guts shown, but some of the folks here are getting MESSED UP by bears, horses, elephants, and rabbits. Viewers with sensitive constitutions should pass this one by.