A haunting set of visuals have predicted how 10 popular tourist destinations around the world could be hit by the climate crisis in just a matter of years – and it’s about as bleak as you’d expect.
With the brutal heatwave – named Cerberus – sweeping across southern Europe, and taking land temperatures to 60C in some places, fears about global warming have spiked once again.
And while you might be hoping for a blissful summer away from such worries, DiscoverCars.com has worked with environment specialist Marish Cuenca to show how even our favourite holiday destinations are at threat.
The visuals examine how natural disasters, flooding, acid rain, along with land erosion and rising sea levels, may alter some of the world’s most beloved landscapes by 2050.
Different areas will face different risks – Hawaii, for instance, is more likely to experience increased volcanic activity and earthquakes, while Egypt’s Greater Cairo area could have more acid rain which may erode the famous Pyramids of Giza.
Rising sea levels could submerge the majority of London docks and suburbs near the Thames by 2050, meaning those famous tourist attractions – the London Eye, Parliament and London Bridge – might all be underwater...
The Italian Alps is likely struggle with landslides due to excessive rainfall, with more earthquakes disrupting the roads, while California could have extreme heatwaves will mass droughts and wildfires. Roads may then melt, so road trips wouldn’t exactly be ideal – and regular wildfires may worsen visibility.
We could go on, but you probably get the idea.
Aleksandrs Buraks, at DiscoverCars.com, explained in an email: “The reality is that – for many popular destinations – their time is limited due to the current rate of global warming.”
It’s worth remembering that reducing climate emissions by 2050 is a major goalpost for governments around the world after they signed the Paris Agreement of 2016.
Including the EU, 194 parties pledged to “pursue efforts” to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C and keep them “well below” 2C compared to pre-industrial times.
Beyond 1.5C, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientists say climate change will reach an irreversible “tipping point”.
Amid fears that we’ve already been too complacent about the crisis, here’s a look at all the before and after 2050 images DiscoverCars.com compiled, to imagine what our climate-changed world might look like....