When you hear the phrase “10 places might” vanish, you might picture distant lands or forgotten ruins. In reality, a mix of climate change, human expansion, and neglect threatens some of the planet’s most iconic sites. Below, we dive into eleven remarkable locations that could slip away before many of us have a chance to marvel at them.

Why 10 Places Might Vanish Soon

From icy peaks receding faster than scientists anticipated to ancient stonework crumbling under modern pressures, each spot on this list tells a story of fragile beauty and urgent danger. Keep scrolling to see which wonders are on the brink.

11 Glacier National Park

Roughly ten millennia ago, the region that now hosts Montana’s Glacier National Park was cloaked under a colossal ice sheet about 1.6 kilometres (a mile) thick. When the park was officially established in 1910, it boasted around 150 glaciers. Today, just 25 of those icy giants remain, and experts warn that they could disappear entirely by 2030.

The park’s flagship, Grinnell Glacier, has already shed more than 90 % of its ice over the past hundred years. While global warming is the obvious culprit, Glacier National Park is warming at a rate 1.8 times faster than the global average, accelerating the melt.

Beyond the glaciers themselves, the meltwater streams that once flowed from these massive ice bodies sustain a vibrant ecosystem teeming with wolves, elk herds, and one of the largest grizzly bear populations in the lower United States. If the glaciers vanish, not only will the last visible trace of the Ice Age disappear, but the entire ecological balance of the park could collapse.

10 The Valley Of Kings

The tombs of Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs—Ramses II, Tutankhamun, and others—have fascinated humanity for centuries. Yet, these burial chambers now face a new menace: a rapidly spreading fungus, nurtured by the breath of thousands of tourists and inadequate ventilation.

Scientists believe the fungal growth has exploded because the sheer number of visitors pumps oxygen into the sealed chambers, creating an ideal environment for the parasite. Officials warn that, at the current rate, the Valley of Kings could be lost within the next 150 years.

Already, delicate hieroglyphics and wall paintings are fading. In response, authorities have limited daily visitor numbers and closed some sections entirely, while installing modern ventilation systems to try to halt the decay.

9 Seychelles

The Seychelles, an archipelago of about 115 islands near Madagascar, remained untouched by humans until the 1600s when the British East India Company stumbled upon them. Over time, the islands became a pirate haven and later a premier spot for spotting massive marine life, especially whale sharks.

Unfortunately, rising sea temperatures have triggered severe coral bleaching, turning once‑vibrant reefs into ghostly white skeletons. This loss of coral not only destroys marine habitats but also leaves the islands more vulnerable to hurricanes and storm surges. Scientists warn that, without urgent action, the Seychelles could be largely submerged within the next fifty years.

8 Olympia

When most people think of ancient Greece, they picture gods, Sparta, or the Olympic Games. Few realize that the original site of the Games—Olympia—has been a religious hub for millennia, worshipping deities from Kronos to Aphrodite, before ultimately dedicating the whole city to Zeus.

Today, the very flame that ignites the modern Olympics is still kindled in Olympia before traveling worldwide. Ironically, fire now threatens the birthplace of the Games. In 2007, arson‑sparked wildfires roared across Greece, coming perilously close to the historic site. Climate change is making such blazes more frequent and ferocious, putting Olympia’s ancient structures at risk of being reduced to ash.

7 The Chan Chan Archaeological Zone

Chan Chan, the world’s largest pre‑Columbian city and the biggest adobe metropolis ever built, sprawls across roughly 20 km (12 mi) of Peru’s coastline. Constructed by the Chimu civilization, the city was divided into nine autonomous citadels, each boasting sophisticated engineering feats such as an extensive irrigation network and an ambitious canal project that aimed to reach the Chicama River 80 km north.

After thriving for over six centuries, Chan Chan fell to the Inca Empire. Today, the site faces a double threat: looters seeking valuable artifacts and natural forces. El Niño‑driven storms batter the region, while powerful earthquakes threaten to crumble the fragile adobe walls entirely.

6 The Galapagos Islands

Every high‑school biology student knows that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was inspired by the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands. Home to nearly 9,000 species—many found nowhere else on Earth—the islands are a living laboratory of evolution.

However, a surge in tourism and an influx of immigrant workers (up more than 12 % annually) have introduced invasive species such as goats, pigs, and rats. These newcomers devour native vegetation and prey on vulnerable native animals, upsetting an ecosystem that evolved in isolation for millennia and cannot adapt quickly enough.

5 The Chersonesos Archaeological Site

Located on the Crimean Peninsula in modern‑day Ukraine, Chersonesos was founded between 300 and 200 B.C. as a Greek colony. Throughout its history, the city endured constant warfare with the Scythians and later the Roman Empire, eventually becoming part of the Byzantine realm.

In the fifth century, many Greek temples were razed as Christianity took hold. Yet even Byzantine protection couldn’t shield the city from later raids by nomadic tribes, which left it in ruins. The Soviet Union later rediscovered and partially restored the site, but today it’s being eroded by coastal wear, pollution, and expanding urban development.

4 Intramuros

Manila’s historic district Intramuros, meaning “within the walls,” has been fortified since the 16th century. As the original capital under Spanish rule, it survived centuries of conflict, including devastating World War II battles when the Imperial Japanese Army occupied the Philippines.

During the war, American forces bombarded Manila, leaving only about 5 % of Intramuros’s original structures intact and destroying roughly 40 % of its massive stone walls. Declared a historic monument in 1951, restoration efforts have returned its five original gates to former glory.

Yet the ancient walls now confront modern encroachment: global chains like Starbucks and McDonald’s have sprouted nearby, and former moats have been converted into golf courses. Historians fear that the relentless march of development could erase the district’s unique heritage.

3 Hisham’s Palace

Buried beneath desert sands in AD 747, Hisham’s Palace remained concealed until Palestinian archaeologist D.C. Baramki began excavations in 1934. Despite its mysterious origins, scholars suspect the palace belonged to a member of the Umayyad dynasty, perhaps the heir of Caliph Al‑Walid II, based on a fragment of pottery bearing the name “Hisham.”

The site suffered a massive earthquake that led to its destruction, and today it faces modern threats: rapid expansion of nearby Jericho and the relentless forces of wind and sand that once buried it again. Without protection, the palace may disappear beneath the dunes within a century.

2 Lamu, Kenya

Lamu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, dates back to the 14th century as one of the earliest Swahili settlements along Africa’s east coast. During its golden era, it thrived as a cultural, political, and artistic hub, later becoming a strategic outpost for German and British forces before gaining Kenyan independence in the 1960s.

In recent years, Lamu has become a target for the terrorist group Al Shabaab. Since 2011, travel bans have been imposed after a series of kidnappings and brutal attacks, making it exceedingly difficult to protect its historic structures, such as the iconic Lamu Fort.

1 The Taj Mahal

Commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved wife, the Taj Mahal required more than 20 000 laborers, 1 000 elephants, and two decades of painstaking craftsmanship. While celebrated as a pinnacle of Mughal architecture, the monument now faces an alarming threat: air and water pollution turning its pristine white marble a sickly yellow.

Over a decade ago, a study highlighted this discoloration, prompting the Indian Supreme Court to order extensive restoration efforts. Yet, despite measures restricting vehicles within 500 m (1 640 ft) of the site, nitrogen‑oxide levels continue to rise as the city of Agra expands, jeopardizing the monument’s future.

Tribal peoples across the globe are fighting back against the relentless tide of modernity that often dismisses their rights and the extraordinary ways they live. In this roundup we spotlight 10 fascinating cultures that hover on the edge of extinction, each with a story as compelling as the next.

Why These 10 Fascinating Cultures Matter

These societies embody human diversity at its most vivid – from high‑up tree homes to reindeer‑driven nomadism – and their loss would erase irreplaceable knowledge, language, and world‑views. Understanding their struggles helps us appreciate why safeguarding cultural heritage matters now more than ever.

10 The Korowi

The Korowi, a tribe that still clings to a legacy of cannibalism, are perhaps best known for the astonishing tree‑houses they construct deep in southeastern Papua, Indonesia. A family of up to eight members can be found perched in a wooden platform capped with a sago‑leaf roof, suspended 6–12 metres (20–40 ft) above the forest floor on a single trunk. Occasionally, a dwelling stretches across several trees, supported by additional wooden poles to keep the structure stable.

These lofty abodes serve a protective purpose: the Korowi fear nocturnal assaults by wandering corpses and male witches that roam the ground after dark. Each house typically survives for about a year, yet its significance runs far deeper. Time for the Korowi is measured by the succession of houses they occupy – a birth, marriage, death, or even a killing is anchored to the specific house in which it occurs, and eras are defined by a series of such dwellings.

Because they lack any form of modern medicine, most Korowi never reach middle age. Roughly 3,000 individuals remain, living in near‑naked attire of banana leaves while subsisting on bananas, sago, deer, and wild boar. Their existence is precarious, and many die young.

Until the 1970s the Korowi were largely unaware that outsiders existed. Recent decades have seen younger members drift toward settlements built by Dutch missionaries, leaving the elder generation clinging to the treetops. Within a single generation, the tree‑house way of life may vanish entirely.

9 The Samburu

For centuries the Samburu have roamed the semi‑arid stretches of northern Kenya, shepherding livestock that supplies their sole source of nourishment. Today, severe droughts and an increasingly hostile stance from Kenyan authorities threaten their survival. Reports detail police committing rapes, beatings, and arson against Samburu families.

The latest wave of persecution began when two American wildlife charities purchased Samburu land under the impression they were dealing with a private owner, possibly former President Daniel arap Moi. The land was handed over to the Kenyan government to establish a national park, forcing thousands of Samburu households into displacement or into squatter‑like conditions on the park’s fringes. The tribe is now battling these evictions in court.

Within the Samburu community, young girls face a brutal custom known as “beading.” This ritual, intended to curb promiscuity, involves a male relative or acquaintance placing a red‑beaded necklace on a girl—sometimes as young as six—signaling a provisional engagement that permits him to have sexual access. The practice effectively books the child for marriage.

Pregnancy is forbidden for these girls, yet no contraceptives are used, leading many to become pregnant against the taboo. Infants who survive natural death are often killed or abandoned. If a girl retains her baby, she may be barred from marriage when she reaches adulthood.

Activist Josephine Kulea has taken steps to protect vulnerable girls by placing them in shelters and ensuring their newborns are transferred to orphanages, striving to break the cycle of abuse.

8 The Loba

High in the Nepalese Himalayas lies the former Tibetan kingdom of Mustang, also called Lo. Its capital, Lo Manthang, feels like stepping into a 14th‑century fortified city, steeped in pure Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The region remained closed to most foreigners until 1992 and could only be reached on foot or horseback until recent infrastructure projects opened it up.

Mustang’s inhabitants, the Loba, survive with minimal modern technology and limited schooling for their children. Historically, they mounted a fierce cultural resistance against Chinese influence. During the 1960s, when the Dalai Lama sought refuge in India, CIA‑backed fighters known as the Khampas used Mustang as a base. After the CIA withdrew support, Nepal, under Chinese pressure, launched a military campaign that forced the Khampas to surrender, with most choosing suicide over capture.

China now funds a highway linking Lhasa and Kathmandu, turning Mustang into a key trade corridor. While some locals welcome the development, community leaders fear that the influx of jobs and education will erode their Tibetan Buddhist heritage, especially as younger residents migrate for better opportunities.

7 The San

We have previously examined the San’s spiritual practices, language, and even their famed giraffe dance. Now we turn to the looming extinction of Africa’s oldest people. In Botswana, the government expelled these hunter‑gatherers from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) under the banner of conservation, even as diamond mining, fracking, and tourism flourished.

The San were forced into settlements where they were given goats or cattle, compelling them into a herding lifestyle they never understood. Unemployment skyrocketed, and the abrupt shift brought a host of health and social problems.

Goiotseone Lobelo recounts the trauma: “Police came, destroyed our homes, and crammed us into trucks with our belongings. We now face AIDS, alcoholism, and teenage pregnancies. Everything is wrong here.”

Legal battles saw the San win a court ruling that granted them the right to return to the CKGR, yet the government only honored the few whose names appeared in the paperwork. Moreover, a ban on all hunting—except on private ranches—effectively dismantles the San’s traditional way of life.

Jamunda Kakelebone warns, “Our death rate is climbing. They want to develop us, to eradicate us. We die from HIV and TB. When we lived on our own, death came with age. Now we die at funerals. In twenty years, it will be goodbye, Bushmen.”

6 The Awa

Before outsiders invaded their home, the nomadic Awa thrived in harmony with Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. These hunter‑gatherers treated orphaned animals as companions, sharing mangoes with parakeets, offering hammocks to coatis, and even nursing monkeys and small pigs with their own milk.

Their world changed dramatically in 1967 when American geologists, on a survey mission, landed on the Carajás Mountains—home to the world’s largest iron‑ore deposit. The ensuing Great Carajás Project, backed by the World Bank and industrial powers like the United States and Japan, ushered in a wave of loggers, ranchers, and settlers who razed swathes of forest for mineral extraction.

Invaders employed brutal tactics, sometimes shooting the Awa, other times distributing poisoned flour as a deceptive gift. Today, only about 350 Awa remain, with roughly 100 living in complete isolation from any external contact.

Pressure from human‑rights groups such as Survival International forced the Brazilian government to launch Operation Awa, aiming to evict the illegal settlers and restore the Awa’s ancestral lands. Whether Brazil can keep the invaders at bay remains a pressing question.

5 The Cocopah

The Cocopah, whose name translates to “River People,” have spent over five centuries farming and fishing in the lower Colorado River delta, a region that straddles Arizona in the United States and the Mexican states of Baja California and Sonora. Their numbers have dwindled from an estimated 22,000 to about 1,300, with only ten native speakers left, and the tribe historically possessed no written language.

Beginning in 1922, the United States and Mexico diverted most of the Colorado River away from the delta, drying up two million acres of wetlands and crippling the Cocopah’s agricultural and fishing practices. In the 1980s, U.S. dam releases caused massive floodwaters to surge through the delta, destroying homes and forcing the tribe to relocate to El Mayor, a site lacking water rights or arable land.

Recent binational agreements have allowed roughly one percent of the Colorado River’s flow to return to the delta, aiming to revive the wetlands. However, a new challenge emerged in 1993 when the Mexican government created the Alto Golfo de California y Delta del Río Colorado Biosphere Reserve, severely restricting Cocopah fishing and undermining their livelihood.

Monica Gonzalez, a 44‑year‑old Cocopah, reflects, “Sometimes I think our leaders talk about the Cocopah as if we have already died, but we are alive and still fighting to survive.”

4 The Mursi

In southwestern Ethiopia lives a tribe of fewer than 10,000 people known as the Mursi, famous for the dramatic lip‑plates worn by their women. These plates symbolize adulthood and fertility potential. At around fifteen or sixteen, a girl’s lower lip is pierced, and a wooden plug is inserted to keep the opening. Over several months she gradually stretches the opening with larger plugs, eventually achieving plates up to twelve centimeters (five inches) in diameter.

Although the Ethiopian government classifies the Mursi as nomadic, they are largely settled, moving only when rainfall dictates the need to find suitable plots for sorghum, beans, and maize cultivation. Their cattle serve not just as food but also as a form of currency and a social tool for marriage negotiations.

In recent years, the government has earmarked large portions of Mursi territory for national parks and commercial irrigation projects. Thousands have been displaced, and while aid agencies acknowledge incidents of beatings and rapes, they stop short of labeling them systematic. Some suggest that foreign aid intended for infrastructure has been repurposed to facilitate forced resettlement, threatening the tribe’s cultural continuity.

3 The Tsaatan

The Tsaatan’s affection for and dependence on their reindeer makes them unique. The reindeer give them milk and cheese as well as transportation across the frigid mountains and taiga (a swampy forest) of their homeland in northern Mongolia.

There are only about 500 Tsaatan left. Disease and problems from inbreeding have caused their reindeer to dwindle, too. So the Tsaatan no longer wear reindeer hides or use animal skins to cover their tepees. They’re nomads, moving every five weeks to find lichen for their beloved animals.

The tribe has an uneasy relationship with tourists. Too many visitors come without an interpreter, litter the environment, and take photos as if the Tsaatan are in a zoo. It’s also important to them that tourists ride horses that won’t hurt the reindeer.

But the Tsaatan’s biggest problem is that their 3,000‑year‑old culture may not survive past this generation. Without the government assistance that they once relied on, the Tsaatan are struggling. The children turn to computers and other technology to prepare them to live in the modern world. Younger people are leaving the taiga for the cities, and the older Tsaatan are afraid they’ll be left alone.

2 The Ladakhis

Imagine the most idyllic culture you can. Patience, tolerance, and honesty are held above all other values. People always help one another, and there’s no money but also no poverty. Lying, stealing, aggression, and arguments are almost unknown. Major crimes simply don’t exist. Everybody is irrepressibly happy. You’re imagining the actual Ladakh culture that existed for centuries before the modern world intruded to destroy it like the serpent in the Garden of Eden.

Of course, life wasn’t really perfect. Set high in the Himalayas in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh is a barren desert in the summer and a frozen moonscape in the winter. With few resources and no modern technology, the Ladakhis established farms, supplemented by herding. Ladakh was almost completely isolated until a road was built in 1962 to connect this area with the rest of India. But modernization didn’t have a major impact on this society until 1975, when tourism slithered in.

Then, like Adam and Eve after eating the fruit, the Ladakhis saw their nakedness (or, in this case, their primitive lifestyle) and became ashamed. They compared themselves to the free‑spending tourists and the glamorous people they saw in films and on TV. For the first time, they felt poor and inferior. Their self‑sustaining culture and their family structure began to break down as they chased happiness through material wealth.

As they modernize, they’re becoming selfish, competitive, frustrated, and argumentative. They’re becoming intolerant of other religions, dependent on the government, insecure, and alone in a crowded world. They’re becoming us.

1 The Huaorani

The Huaorani have a long history of using deadly spears and blowguns against everyone else in their Amazon rain forest home in Ecuador. For them, revenge is a lifestyle.

Energy companies want to drill in the Amazon rain forest to extract the huge reserves of crude oil that lie beneath the Ishpingo‑Tambococha‑Tiputini (ITT) area of Yasuni National Park. Despite environmental concerns, it’s coming down to a battle between the Ecuadorian government and the Huaorani. Both sides have alternated between high‑minded words and possible ransom demands whenever it suits their purposes.

In 2007, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa proposed that governments around the world give Ecuador $3.6 billion in exchange for Ecuador not drilling the ITT. In 2013, when it became clear that world leaders weren’t paying up, Correa went to Plan B, drilling for oil. He also abandoned his commitment to protect Amazon tribes from drillers by denying that the tribes exist. Correa claims to need the Amazon oil revenue to help the poor.

As for the Huaorani, some claim they’ll fight to the death with blowguns, machetes, and spears if oil companies drill on their land and threaten their way of life. But the Huaorani are no military match for the government.

Weya Cahuiya, who represents a Huaorani tribal organization, says, “Every time the oil companies expand, they divide us. There are fights between families because some people get things and others don’t. The government needs to pay us. All of us. They need to respect us and if they want to come in, they have to pay us or we’ll kill them.”

The world is full of beautiful places and cultures one must explore if they can. Sadly, you’d have to hurry, as quite a few of them are currently at a real risk of disappearing due to a variety of factors, primarily climate change. Apart from being amazing tourist spots, many of these are also iconic tourist destinations we’ve grown up reading about, including the Great Wall of China, Madagascar, and Venice.  

10. The Great Wall Of China

The Great Wall of China is said to be the only thing visible from space, even if that isn’t entirely true. Regardless, it’s an impressive structure running for about 5,500 miles. Instead of a single, continuous wall, it’s actually made up of multiple walls – some of them parallel to each other – originally meant to keep the nomadic invaders from the north out. While the original wall was built some time in the 3rd century BC, subsequent rulers continued to add to it. The Great Wall of China’s most well-preserved part could be traced back to the Ming era (1368-1644).

As of now, the wall is in a bad shape, thanks to wear and tear caused by continuous exposure to wind and rain, along with plants growing in the walls that have accelerated the damage. Over the years, about 30% of the wall has been lost. With the climate getting more extreme and unpredictable over time, the Great Wall of China may not survive for much longer, bringing an end to one of the oldest historical sites in the world. 

9. The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef in Australlia is easily one of the wonders of the natural world, as anyone who has actually seen it would tell you. Spread across an area of over 133,000 square miles off the coast of Queensland, it’s the largest system of coral reefs in the world. Apart from being a diving attraction, coral reefs are immensely important for the marine ecosystem, providing a home to about one-fourth of all marine species. 

That’s why if we were to lose all the coral in the world overnight, it’d be catastrophic on multiple fronts. Sadly, that may already be happening.. Over the years, the Great Barrier Reef has lost a huge chunk of its coral population to rising temperatures, something that has only got worse with time. A severe marine heat wave further exacerbated the damage, destroying nearly 50% of its diverse – and rather colorful – coral population. 

According to a 2019 report by the United Nations, we may lose about 70% – 90% of all coral reefs on Earth if the temperature rises by just 0.9 degrees Celcius (33.62 degrees Fahrenheit). Experts believe that at that rate, the Great Barrier Reef may completely disappear by 2050.

8. Venice, Italy

Venice, Italy is also known as the Floating City or the City of Bridges, thanks to its unique and vast network of interconnected canals. Except one main road, a few side streets, and small bridges, alleys and walking paths, waterways remain the only way to explore Venice, making it one of the most unique travel experiences one can have. 

As of now, though, Venice is going through multiple problems that threaten its long-term survival. The biggest one is global warming, as rising sea levels have already started to submerge parts of it. Floods are also getting more frequent and severe; a 2019 flood managed to put about 70% of the city underwater.

A recent study found that in addition to the drowning, entire parts of the city are sinking at an alarming rate, too. If that wasn’t enough, they also found that many buildings in the city are gradually tilting towards the East.

7. The Amazon Rainforest

Recently, a study reported that the Amazon – easily the largest rainforest in the world – is now releasing more carbon dioxide than it absorbs. It may sound surprising, though looking at the number of forest fires in the region in the past few years, as well as other climate trends throughout the world, scientists knew that it would happen sooner or later. They just didn’t know it would happen so soon. 

As of now, fires are still ongoing across the Amazon region, and the current fire season is expected to be even more destructive than the last. While there are many causes for the fires – including reduced precipitation levels in recent years – many activists and local news reports have blamed the beef and farming industries operating in the region for forcibly clearing the forest. 

6. Patagonia

The Patagonia region lies on the southern side of South America, including territory governed by Argentina and Chile. While it may not feature on most mainstream travel lists floating around on the Internet, for the offbeat traveller, the vast region offers a variety of pristine natural landscapes to explore, including the Andes, fjords, lakes, deserts and steppes.  

Unfortunately, Patagonia also happens to be one of the frontiers of the fight against climate change, especially in its high-altitude parts in the Andes. Its ice fields – once one of the largest ice caps on the continent – are melting at an alarming rate, and we’re not entirely sure why. Patagonia’s ice cover is generally receding at a faster rate than most places, and at this rate, it may be completely gone within a few decades. 

5. Bordeaux, France

You don’t have to be a wine connoisseur to know that the Bordeaux region in France is synonymous with fine wine. For centuries, wineries in Bordeaux have been some of the largest producers of wine in the world, as demand for the beverage has remained consistently high throughout its history. It’s also a major source of tourism for the region, as it attracts wine enthusiasts from around the world. 

With changing times, though, all of that may change very soon. As weather patterns start affecting production in major wine-producing regions of the world, Bordeaux is one of the worst affected. Extreme weather conditions like early frost aren’t helping, either. By some estimates, Bordeaux  – along with places like Napa Valley in California – will stop being a major wine producer in the next fifty years.

4. Madagascar

Madagascar is an island located off the south-eastern coast of Africa, and is considered to be one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Over 11,000 species are endemic to the island – which means they’re only found in Madagascar – and research teams still find entirely new species almost every time they visit. For outdoor and nature enthusiasts, it’s one of the best destinations one could ask for.

In the past few years, however, deforestation and overharvesting has caused a big chunk of the rainforest to disappear, along with its diverse wildlife – for one example, a study found that the lemur population of the island is declining alarmingly fast. 

Extensive research on the region remains limited, though from what we know, Madagascar’s rainforest may be at a real risk of disappearing in the next few decades if global warming and deforestation continue at the same rate.

3. Glacier National Park

We’ve long known that the permanent ice caps around the world would be the one of the first places affected by climate change, and we can already see it in action. From the Andes to the Arctic to the Himalayas, glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate, and we don’t even understand its full effects, yet.

In the United States, Glacier National Park in Montana is perhaps the worst affected. One of USA’s original national parks, it’s still one of the best places you can go to for skiing anywhere in the world, not just the US. 

According to a count done back when the park was founded in 1910, it had around 100 massive glaciers. Now, barely a couple of them could even be called glaciers. Between 1966 and 2015, some of the largest glaciers in the park may have lost up to 80% of their area. With temperatures only going upward around the world, that’s expected to accelerate in the coming years.

2. The Maldives

Ever since the first climate reports came out, we’ve known that Maldives would be the first country to be affected by rising sea levels. It’s the lowest-lying country in the world, with over 80% of its islands sitting less than 1 meter above sea level. 

As the seas are now rising at a rate of close to four millimeters per year, Maldives is already at a risk of completely disappearing within the next few decades. As per one study done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes, they’re expected to rise by half a meter by 2100 even if we sharply reduce carbon emissions. If we don’t, they can rise by up to one meter, effectively drowning the entire country.

1. Sundarbans

Sundarbans is a vast area of mangrove forests situated in India and Bangladesh. A few protected areas inside the region are even classified as UNESCO heritage sites, owing to the sheer diversity of the flora and fauna found there. 

In the past few years, though, the mangroves of Sundarbans have seen unprecedented deforestation and damage to the local ecosystem. That’s a problem, as the mangroves keep the violent waters of the Bay of Bengal at… well, bay. Now, rising tides affect larger parts of the region for longer parts of the year, severely affecting the many unique plants and animals that call it home, including the Bengal Tiger. At this rate, the forests – one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in the world – may disappear within a few decades.

Climate change, human activity, and other environmental factors are causing some of the world’s most beautiful natural tourist destinations to disappear at an alarming rate. From coral reefs to glaciers to pristine islands, many of these places are also unique natural habitats, often sustaining endemic forms of life not found anywhere else on Earth.

10. Snow-Capped Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

At about 5,895 meters – or 19,340 feet – Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the highest mountain in Africa. A lot has been said and written about its permanent ice cap, as it’s also one of the only three glaciers found on the continent. The snow, combined with the postcard African backdrop, give the place an otherworldly vibe, though that may be about to change very soon. 

Much like glaciers everywhere else, climate change is rapidly contributing towards its decline. Deforestation in the nearby jungle is another big problem, as it’s rapidly reducing the amount of moisture in the air and causing the ice cap to shrink at an even faster rate. By one estimate, the mountain lost anywhere between six and 17 feet of ice between the years 2000 and 2009, and the same report estimated that it could completely disappear by 2022. While that hasn’t happened yet, the snow on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro is still melting at an alarming rate of about 1.6 feet every year, and may even completely disappear by 2040. 

9. Bangladesh

Bangladesh falls on the delta formed by the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers in Asia, two of which are among the longest rivers on the continent. Due to its geography, the country is home to many river and delta cultures, as well as one of the most fertile soils in the region. Sadly, it’s also on the frontline of climate change and rising sea levels, and might just be one of the first countries to be significantly underwater before long. 

The government of Bangladesh estimates that nearly 17% of the country will be submerged by the year 2050 if sea levels continue to rise at the current rate. The capital city, Dhaka, would probably go under by 2100, putting tens of millions of people at risk.

While the government is taking steps to adapt to the changing situation – like building coastal embankments and relocating people to higher grounds wherever they can – it’s still a huge challenge due to the country’s high and dense population.

8. Dead Sea, Israel

The Dead Sea is actually a salt lake located at the lowest point on Earth, somewhere between Israel and Jordan. It’s known for its high salt content, which makes it impossible for fish and other forms of marine life to survive. The water of the lake is also believed to have therapeutic properties, making it a popular tourist destination for medical purposes. 

If you haven’t seen it, now would be the right time to plan a trip, as the Dead Sea is also shrinking at an alarming rate. The primary cause is a massive loss of waterflow from one of its major sources, the Jordan River, due to some natural and geo-political causes. Additionally, the extraction of minerals from the lake and its shores is further harming the entire ecosystem, which might disappear entirely if it’s not protected in the near future.

7. Cook Islands