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…
