Ten of the world’s greatest natural wonders face destruction if the climate continues to warm at the current rate. The endangered wonders, warns the World Wildlife Fund, include the Amazon, Great Barrier Reef and other coral reefs, Chihuahua Desert in Mexico and the US, hawksbill turtles in the Caribbean, Valdivian temperate rainforests in Chile, tigers and people in the Indian Sundarbans, Upper Yangtze River in China, wild salmon in the Bering Sea, melting glaciers in the Himalayas, and East African coastal forests. “From turtles to tigers, from the desert of Chihuahua to the great Amazon – all these wonders of nature are at risk from warming temperatures,” says Dr Lara Hansen, Chief Scientist of WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme. “While adaptation to changing climate can save some, only drastic action by governments to reduce emissions can hope to stop their complete destruction.” —Julia Whitty
