Before Global Warming Destroys Them...

CNN.com posted this article giving us five places to visit before global warming destroys them.

1. Great Barrier Reef in Australia
Warming temperatures can spell disaster for coral reefs, which depend on a delicate balance of ocean temperature and chemistry to bloom into colorful displays. Many of the world's reefs already are experiencing "bleaching" in which algae living in the coral die and leave behind whitened skeletons. This reef -- which is composed of about 2,900 individual reefs and is off the northeast coast of Australia -- is seeing limited bleaching now, and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority expects the problem to grow in coming decades.

2. New Orleans, Louisiana
Go see this before the waters flood the city. I've been there, almost been shot, and saw lots of boobies.

3. Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado
Basically tiny pine beetles are munching away at Colorado's forests, turning the evergreens a sickly red and destroying large patches of trees. Usually the winters would kill off the little bastards but with warming winters, they can't be stopped from eating year round.

4. The Alpine Glaciers in Switzerland
The European Alps sit at a lower altitude than the Rocky Mountains, and their glaciers and ski resorts are therefore more susceptible to melting away. A climate expert in Austria recently told National Geographic that the Alps' famed glaciers will disappear entirely between 2030 and 2050. A 2006 report had said they would melt by the end of the century. I think this is a must see because of the clear blue color of the frozen monuments.

5. Last but not least, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil
Basically the rainforest is going through massive deforestation and with raising temperatures in the summer months, it's harder for any vegetation to grow in the dried out soil.


The only place I had planned on visiting before it disappears is Venice. Would you go to visit any of these?