100 cultural landmarks in 59 countries are in danger of extinction from the effects of global warming, says the World Monuments Fund. Intensified weather conditions, rising sea levels, and encroaching deserts are the cause, while the effect is a threat on several heritage sites from Canada to Antarctica.

The Cultural Heritage sites all over the world are at stake according to the statistics achieved. The historic neighborhoods of New Orleans have suffered the wrath of hurricanes. While in the Herschel Island in Canada, ancient Inuit sites and a historic whaling town are threatened by melting permafrost. On the other hand, the desert is invading into an ancient mosque in Mauritania. A hut used by the British explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott in Antarctica is now under the threat of being engulfed by heavy snows after surviving the frost for almost a century.

According to Bonnie Burnham, the president of the World Monuments Fund, the damage caused is not beyond repair. ‘Man is the real enemy’ - she said in a statement, but also added - ‘But, just as we caused the damage in the first place, we have the power to repair it.” The organization says that more than three quarters of the sites listed in the preceding years are now free from danger. Over $47 million has been given by this fund based in New York to save and recover approximately 200 sites since 1996.

The list of the most endangered sites is issued by the World Monuments Fund in every two years, as a gesture to increase cultural awareness. The effort has been successful, suggests the organization. The list is prepared by a body of experts who choose the most endangered sites from nominations by governments, conservationists, etc. Selection is on the basis of the significance of the site and the exigency of the perils they are facing, according to the organization.

Global Warming has been listed as one of the threats to architectural and cultural heritage of this planet, in this year’s list. The list of most endangered sites in 2007 is also the first list to have added Global Warming as a peril. Political unrest, pollution, demands of tourism, and urban developments due to modernization are the other threats included in the list.

The most endangered heritage sites in this list include in Iraq, Machu Picchu and Peru. U.S. locations, including the historic Route 66 and the rusting remnant of the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City’s Queens borough, are the more in number in the list than sites from any other country.

Global Warming as a phenomenon has started taking its toll on the history of mankind. The ancient cultural landmarks displaying the historic heritage of numerous socio-cultural backgrounds across the globe are on the threshold of uncertainty today.

Image Credit: andreweland

Via: CNN