Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
vulnerable, while Chad is not. A careful look at the data shows that
low-elevation regions tend to have higher per capita income than high-
elevation regions.
12
WORLD HERITAGE SITES
The people of Pudong may relocate, but buildings and ski areas can-
not. This raises the issue of whether global warming threatens a signifi -
cant number of the world's cultural and natural treasures. Many places
are precious to people: Venice to artists, Yellowstone National Park to
Americans, and New Mexico's Hermit's Peak to me. How vulnerable are
such spots?
We can assess this question because the UNESCO World Heritage
Convention has a systematic process for listing major treasures. These
sites are according to UNESCO “among the priceless and irreplaceable
assets, not only of each nation, but of humanity as a whole.” The list
currently includes 936 sites in 153 countries including religious, eco-
logical, and architectural monuments.
The convention places sites on its danger list if they are “threatened
by serious and specifi c dangers” as defi ned by the Convention Concern-
this was written, thirty-fi ve sites were on the endangered list. A re-
view indicates that the major threats are armed confl ict and war, earth-
quakes and other natural disasters, pollution, poaching, uncontrolled
urbanization, and unchecked tourist development. Global warming
was not mentioned as a problem for any of the endangered heritage
sites, but this probably refl ects inertia in setting priorities and deter-
mining threats.
The deliberations of the World Heritage Convention are catching up
with today's concerns, and they have recently examined the impact of
climate change on different groups of monuments. A report concluded
that there are major dangers to four classes of sites: large glaciers, ma-
rine and terrestrial biodiversity, archaeological sites, and historical cit-
ies and settlements. With respect to SLR, major threatened sites listed
by the report are the cities of London and Venice and several low-lying
