Most world heritage sites at risk of drought or flooding: UN
PARIS(AFP)Almost three quarters of the globe's cultural and natural heritage sites are threatened by too little or too much water, the UN's cultural agency said on Tuesday.As a result of rising temperatures, extreme weather events including hurricanes, droughts, floods and heatwaves have become more frequent and intense, scientists warn.Seventy-three percent of all 1,172 non-marine sites on the UNESCO Heritage List are exposed to at least one severe water risk -- including water stress, drought, river flooding or coastal flooding, UNESCO said."Water stress is projected to intensify, most notably in regions like the Middle East and North Africa, parts of South Asia and northern China - posing long-term risks to ecosystems, cultural heritage, and the communities and tourism economies that depend on them," it added.Cultural sites were most commonly threatened by water scarcity, while more than half of natural sites faced the risk of flooding from a nearby river, the UNESCO study showed.In India, the Taj Mahal monument in Agra, for example, "faces water scarcity that is increasing pollution and depleting groundwater, both of which are damaging the mausoleum," the study said.In the United State, "in 2022, a massive flood closed down all of Yellowstone National Park and cost over $20 million in infrastructure repairs to reopen."The report gave four more examples.Iraq's southern marshes -- the reputed home of the biblical Garden of Eden -- "face extremely high water stress, where over 80 percent of the renewable supply is withdrawn to meet human demand", it added. And competition for water is expected to increase in the marshes, where migratory birds live and inhabitants raise buffalo, as the region grows hotter in coming years.On the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Victoria Falls -- originally called Mosi-oa-Tunya ("the smoke that thunders") before it was renamed by Scottish explorer David Livingstone -- has faced recurring drought and is sometimes reduced to a trickle.In Peru, the pre-Colombian city of Chan Chan and its delicate 1,000-year-old adobe walls face an extremely high risk of river flooding, UNESCO said.
In China, rising sea levels driven in large part by climate change are leading to coastal flooding, which destroys mudlands where migratory waterbirds find food, it added.
- DPA Text-English -Update Karl Lagerfeld's villa near Paris to be auctioned Update Karl Lagerfeld's villa near Paris to be auctioned - AFP TEXT English -Storm Flossie strengthens into a hurricane near Mexico coast Storm Flossie strengthens into a hurricane near Mexico coast - WAM Text-English -Korea / Exports Korea's exports up 4.3% on-year to $59.8 billion in June - 0001 - WAM Text English push -Korea / Exports Korea's exports up 4.3% on-year to $59.8 billion in June - 0001 - DPA Text-English -Crocodile kills 80-year-old man on Indonesia's Sumatra island Crocodile kills 80-year-old man on Indonesia's Sumatra island - New York Times-Text -California Rolls Back Its Landmark Environmental Law California Rolls Back Its Landmark Environmental Law - Reuters -السعودية قد ترفع أسعار النفط في أغسطس لأعلى مستوياتها في 4 أشهر السعودية قد ترفع أسعار النفط في أغسطس لأعلى مستوياتها في 4 أشهر - Reuters -بيانات حكومية: الناتج الإجمالي المحلي في قطر خلال الربع/1 يرتفع 3.7% على أساس سنوي 0.3% على أساس فصلي بيانات حكومية: الناتج الإجمالي المحلي في قطر خلال الربع/1 يرتفع 3.7% على أساس سنوي 0.3% على أساس فصلي... - AFP -مونديال الأندية: ترتيب الهدافين مونديال الأندية: ترتيب الهدافين - AFP -مونديال الأندية: ترتيب الهدافين مونديال الأندية: ترتيب الهدافين
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
2 days ago
- Gulf Today
Japan plans 'world first' deep-sea mineral extraction
Japan will from January attempt to extract rare earth minerals from the ocean floor in the deepest trial of its kind, the director of a government innovation programme said on Thursday. Earlier this week the country pledged to work with the United States, India and Australia to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals, as concern grows over China's dominance in resources vital to new technologies. Rare earths — 17 metals difficult to extract from the Earth's crust — are used in everything from electric vehicles to hard drives, wind turbines and missiles. China accounts for almost two-thirds of rare earth mining production and 92 percent of global refined output, according to the International Energy Agency. This picture shows the drilling tower from a heli-port located on the front section of Japan's deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu as it anchores at a pier in Shimizu port. File / AFP A Japanese deep-sea scientific drilling boat called the Chikyu will from January conduct a "test cruise" to retrieve ocean floor sediments that contain rare earth elements, said Shoichi Ishii, director of Japan's Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Programme. "The test to retrieve the sediments from 5,500 metres (3.4 miles) water depth is the first in the world," he told AFP. "Our goal... of this cruise is to test the function of all mining equipment," so the amount of sediment extracted "doesn't matter at all", Ishii added. The Chikyu will drill in Japanese economic waters around the remote island of Minami Torishima in the Pacific — the easternmost point of Japan, also used as a military base. Japan's Nikkei business daily reported that the mission aims to extract 35 tonnes of mud from the sea floor over around three weeks. Each tonne is expected to contain around two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of rare earth minerals, which are often used to make magnets that are essential in modern electronics. Deep-sea mining has become a geopolitical flashpoint, with anxiety growing over a push by US President Donald Trump to fast-track the practice in international waters. Beijing has since April required licences to export rare earths from China, a move seen as retaliation for US curbs on the import of Chinese goods. Environmental campaigners warn that deep-sea mining threatens marine ecosystems and will disrupt the sea floor. The International Seabed Authority, which has jurisdiction over the ocean floor outside national waters, is meeting later this month to discuss a global code to regulate mining in the ocean depths. Agence France-Presse
Al Etihad
4 days ago
- Al Etihad
Bezos-backed methane-tracking satellite lost in space
2 July 2025 10:03 WELLINGTON (AFP)A satellite backed by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been lost in space while carrying out an important climate change mission, New Zealand officials said to measure greenhouse gas emissions with "unprecedented resolution", the MethaneSAT space probe was also funded by Wellington and the US-based Environmental Defense with technical problems, the satellite recently stopped responding to its Earth-bound controllers."Clearly, this is a disappointing development," said Andrew Johnson, a senior official at the New Zealand Space Agency."As those who work in the space sector know, space is inherently challenging, and every attempt -- successful or not -- pushes the boundaries of what we know and what we're capable of."The Environmental Defense Fund, which led the project, said it was "difficult news" but would not be the end of its methane-tracking was designed to measure emissions of the potent greenhouse gas, which fuels climate change by trapping heat in the planet's has proven notoriously difficult to get accurate estimates of the methane emissions generated by oil and gas projects around the was launched into space in March 2024 on the back of a SpaceX rocket fired from California. Controllers first lost contact with the satellite on June 20, the MethaneSAT team said in a statement. They confirmed it had lost all power on Monday this week and was "likely not recoverable".
Al Etihad
5 days ago
- Al Etihad
Most world heritage sites at risk of drought or flooding: UN
1 July 2025 14:43 PARIS(AFP)Almost three quarters of the globe's cultural and natural heritage sites are threatened by too little or too much water, the UN's cultural agency said on a result of rising temperatures, extreme weather events including hurricanes, droughts, floods and heatwaves have become more frequent and intense, scientists percent of all 1,172 non-marine sites on the UNESCO Heritage List are exposed to at least one severe water risk -- including water stress, drought, river flooding or coastal flooding, UNESCO said."Water stress is projected to intensify, most notably in regions like the Middle East and North Africa, parts of South Asia and northern China - posing long-term risks to ecosystems, cultural heritage, and the communities and tourism economies that depend on them," it sites were most commonly threatened by water scarcity, while more than half of natural sites faced the risk of flooding from a nearby river, the UNESCO study India, the Taj Mahal monument in Agra, for example, "faces water scarcity that is increasing pollution and depleting groundwater, both of which are damaging the mausoleum," the study the United State, "in 2022, a massive flood closed down all of Yellowstone National Park and cost over $20 million in infrastructure repairs to reopen."The report gave four more southern marshes -- the reputed home of the biblical Garden of Eden -- "face extremely high water stress, where over 80 percent of the renewable supply is withdrawn to meet human demand", it added. And competition for water is expected to increase in the marshes, where migratory birds live and inhabitants raise buffalo, as the region grows hotter in coming the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Victoria Falls -- originally called Mosi-oa-Tunya ("the smoke that thunders") before it was renamed by Scottish explorer David Livingstone -- has faced recurring drought and is sometimes reduced to a Peru, the pre-Colombian city of Chan Chan and its delicate 1,000-year-old adobe walls face an extremely high risk of river flooding, UNESCO said. In China, rising sea levels driven in large part by climate change are leading to coastal flooding, which destroys mudlands where migratory waterbirds find food, it added. - DPA Text-English -Update Karl Lagerfeld's villa near Paris to be auctioned Update Karl Lagerfeld's villa near Paris to be auctioned - AFP TEXT English -Storm Flossie strengthens into a hurricane near Mexico coast Storm Flossie strengthens into a hurricane near Mexico coast - WAM Text-English -Korea / Exports Korea's exports up 4.3% on-year to $59.8 billion in June - 0001 - WAM Text English push -Korea / Exports Korea's exports up 4.3% on-year to $59.8 billion in June - 0001 - DPA Text-English -Crocodile kills 80-year-old man on Indonesia's Sumatra island Crocodile kills 80-year-old man on Indonesia's Sumatra island - New York Times-Text -California Rolls Back Its Landmark Environmental Law California Rolls Back Its Landmark Environmental Law - Reuters -السعودية قد ترفع أسعار النفط في أغسطس لأعلى مستوياتها في 4 أشهر السعودية قد ترفع أسعار النفط في أغسطس لأعلى مستوياتها في 4 أشهر - Reuters -بيانات حكومية: الناتج الإجمالي المحلي في قطر خلال الربع/1 يرتفع 3.7% على أساس سنوي 0.3% على أساس فصلي بيانات حكومية: الناتج الإجمالي المحلي في قطر خلال الربع/1 يرتفع 3.7% على أساس سنوي 0.3% على أساس فصلي... - AFP -مونديال الأندية: ترتيب الهدافين مونديال الأندية: ترتيب الهدافين - AFP -مونديال الأندية: ترتيب الهدافين مونديال الأندية: ترتيب الهدافين
