RP256 Rising Seas, Shrinking Forests

 RP256 Rising Seas, Shrinking Forests

We know about endangered animals, but what about endangered places? Yes, places can be endangered, too. Rising sea levels, logging, and expanding deserts are threatening unique environments around the world. And when these places are gone, they' re gone for good.

The Wadden Sea is a strip of shallow water around 500km long. The sea runs along the coast of the North Sea in Europe. It is home to many distinctive plants and animals. Over 30 different bird species stop on little islands in the sea during their annual迁mizations. Yet all these plants and animals may soon be underwater. If sea levels keep rising due to climate change, the Wadden Sea could be lost forever.

Tuvalu is another place in danger of disappearing. Nine islands make up this Polynesian nation. Rising sea levels are eating away at Tuvalu's land, and contamination its drinking water. Leaders there are pleading with larger nations to help stop climate change. They' re also preparing for the worst by drawing up plans for the event of continued rising sea levels.

Climate change is also bad news for glaciers. Take the Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru for example. It is a key water source for the nation, and it's melting fast.

The Congo Basin in Africa is one of the most species-rich regions in the world. Its rain forests accommodate an incredible variety of plants and animals, along with some very unusual humans. This is where the Mbuti pygmyes, who only grow to be four or five feet tall, hunt. However, logging operations are getting closer to them every year. If logging rates continue, then half of the rain forest will be gone in under 50 years. The plants, animals, and humans living there will disappear, too.

It's not just the axes and wrecking balls causing this environmental destruction. Our pollution and our greed are also to blame. If things don't change, we will lose these beautiful places forever. We must change our ways, and fast!