Climate change threatens significant monuments and sites of the world

New York - Climate change seriously threatens valuable historical monuments and other significant sites. According to AFP, this is based on statements from the World Monuments Fund (WMF), which has published a list of the 100 most endangered architectural works and important places in the world.
    "The 2008 list, which includes hundreds of sites and monuments that are at risk worldwide, clearly shows that human activity has become the greatest threat to our cultural heritage," stated WMF.
    The World Monuments Fund is an American private institution established in 1965 to protect cultural heritage.
    According to WMF, monuments are threatened by political conflicts, industrial development, and for the first time, climate change as well.
    Among the sites endangered by climate change is New Orleans, which suffered serious damage from the devastating floods caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Others include Herschel Island in northwestern Canada. The Chinguetti Mosque in Mauritania is threatened by the encroaching desert.
    Due to the ongoing conflict, Iraqi cultural monuments and significant archaeological sites are permanently threatened, WMF noted. In Peru, unprotected tourist paths pose a threat to the former Incan metropolis of Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes.