10 BEAUTIFUL PLACES RUNNING OUT OF TIME

Time is running out! Some of the most beautiful places on the planet are disappearing forever! It’s sad, but it’s true. See them for the first time, or visit them again, before it’s too late!

Climate change and human encroachment are wreaking havoc on our planet. That’s no longer news. And while it is so overwhelming to consider that it’s almost numbing, the fact that we are losing whole countries, ecosystems, and economies right now, should get your attention.

When over 90% of our most important coral reefs are now dead, islands are getting swallowed by the sea, the sea itself is choking, the Amazon is gasping, and wine grapes are getting wiped out by hot weather and massive wildfires -- right now -- today -- not on some distant future time schedule, but today -- that certainly gets our attention. And that’s just to name a few!

Napa Valley just recently took a major hit, for example. Climate-related wildfires burned thousands of acres, including vineyards. Many that survived will still have to deal with smoke-related crop damage. When smoke gets in your wine, it’s generally not a beautiful thing. They’re still hoping for visitors… but visitors are staying away.

We’ve curated a collection of 10 beautiful places that are at the top of our bucket list. We want to see them now, before they are gone or before their core beauty and soul is damaged beyond return. Check them out below.

1. THE DEAD SEA

Float in any position while your muscles relax and your skin drinks in nourishing minerals in the beautiful warm saline-heavy waters of the Dead Sea. This body of water, located…. Israel, once covered….

It has been shrinking at a rate of about 3.3 feet a year. It is already ⅓ smaller than it was less than a century ago. A perfect storm of climate change and human meddling in the form of dams, artificial reservoirs, pipelines, and mineral mining, have been sucking this wondrous sea dry. If it continues on its current course, the Dead Sea will be completely dry by 2050.

Check Travel Composer for beautiful Dead Sea Tours.

2. THE GREAT BARRIER REEF -- AUSTRALIA

Ready for a giant shock? Over 90% of the Great Barrier Reef died in the past 2 years! While we’ve been busy focused on crazy politics, fixated on millions of news stories and tweets, a really big beautiful part of our planet has passed on.

The GBR, which spans more than 1,400 miles off the northeast coast of Australia, is the largest coral reef system in the world. Rising ocean temperatures have caused coral bleaching -- essentially, it’s coral death.

Beyond the impact on the planet, divers are losing an unparalleled paradise. See it soon, before every bit is lost.

3. THE AMAZON

You’ve heard that the Amazon represents the “lungs” of the world. You know that it holds one of the largest and most diverse populations of colorful, unusual animals, trees, and plants. You know that its beauty is beyond compare. It is the largest rainforest on Earth. It covers about 40% of the continent of South America.

Everything from extreme droughts and high temperatures have made the jungle susceptible to wildfires and have threatened all that lives here. Mining and logging have added to the pile of devastation.

Amazon landscapes are changing quickly. See them before their beauty is totally gone.

4. THE RHONE VALLEY -- FRANCE

The Rhone Valley, in France, is but one of many beautiful winemaking regions in the world that are threatened by climate change.

It spans more than 120 miles, from north to south, flanked by French and Swiss mountains, and dotted with vineyards along the way. As global temperatures rise, grapes ripen and shrivel faster, cutting productivity and negatively impacting the taste, and the ultimate value of any wines that these vineyards produce.

Check out Tours du Rhone for Rhone Valley tours you can book right now.

5. KEY WEST

The entire Florida Keys will soon be wasted away in Margaritaville, thanks to rising seas. Jimmy Buffett, one of the Keys’ most famous residents, wasn’t referring to his home getting wasted, but, according to estimates from the Army Corps of Engineers, the sea level will rise 15”in the next 30 years. Regular flooding is already underway.

There’s beauty that remains here, in this place that Hemingway called “heaven.” The refined parts of the Keys are wonderful too. Visit soon. Check out The Artist House.

6. ALASKA

While many of the most vulnerable places, where time is running out, are remote, some, like Napa and Alaska, are not. The Alaskan wilderness, one of the most magnificent places on earth to explore via hiking, kayaking, small boats and planes, is melting and eroding. Sea ice, ice caps, glaciers, and permafrost are all retreating, as documented in Chasing Ice. Some of these developments are causing landslides on the level of major earthquakes.

Check out Arctic Wild Tours.

7. THE MALDIVES

The Indian Ocean only needs to rise by 6” before it swallows up the Maldives. One of the most gorgeous places on the planet, the Maldives are made up of a cluster of coral atolls surrounded by warm clear turquoise blue seas. Some atolls are already gone. People are being forced to give up their homes. There are still several exceptional luxury resorts such as Naladhu where you can experience Maldivian beauty before its time is done.

8. SAN BLAS ISLANDS -- PANAMA

Blink and you’ll miss the San Blas Islands, off the coast of Panama. As the Caribbean sea warms and rises, hundreds of these islands will be submerged. Their pristine sugar sand beaches, their indigenous Kuna people, their physical and spiritual beauty, will be forced out.

If you want to see them while you still can enjoy, check out Velero Amande, which can sail you around.

9. YUNNAN PROVINCE -- CHINA

Yunnan Province, in China is a magical place. Rugged and dramatic terrains here are wildly varied from dense wilderness to artisanally terraced rice paddies, everywhere you turn, you see another beautiful thing. But, the One Belt, One Road project which is building roads to connect China to Europe, the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean, is ripping up forests and paving paradise in its path.

Visit before the road gets too far. Wild Frontiers can set you up.

10. MERGUI ARCHIPELAGO -- MYANMAR

The Mergui Archipelago is made up of 800 islands west of the Malay Peninsula in Myanmar. No one but a few semi-nomadic Moken people live here. Coral bleaching and commercial fishing are wiping out the reef and the communities who directly rely upon them. Rare birds, such as the Nicobar P

Get up close and personal soon with the beautiful land, sea and people on a Burma Boating charter yacht.

See more magical places on earth here. And read more about Beautiful Time in  10 Watches With Beautiful Surprises and The Beauty of Time Worth Saving: 10 Ideas.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Mind/Body, Soul/Impact, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Arts/Design, and Place/Time, Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by tsaiproject. “The Dead Sea, Israel.” Dead Sea. Israel.
2. Image: by Yair Aronshtam. “Salt pillar at the Dead Sea, Israel.” Dead Sea. Israel.
3. Image: by Kyle Taylor. “The Great Barrier Reef.” Great Barrier Reef. Australia.
4. Image: by Allan Hopkins. “Kaieteur Falls from the air.” The Amazon. Guyana.
5. Image: by Tambako the Jaguar. “Rhone Valley.” Rhone Valley. France.
6. Image: by Scott. “Key West Sunset.” Key West, FL.
7. Image: by Wall Boat. “Denali National Park, Alaska.” Denali National Park. AK.
8. Image: by Tchami. “Maldives.” Maldives.
9. Image: by Scott & Emily. “San Blas Beach.” San Blas Islands, Panama.
10. Image: by Jialiang Gao. “Terrace rice fields in Yunnan Province, China.” Yunnan Province, China.
11. Image: by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. “Mergui Archipelago.” Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar.
12. Image: by cuatrok77. “Nicobar Pigeon.”  Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar.
13. Image: by Anantara Journeys. “Maldivian Paradise - Anantara Dhigu.” Maldives.
14. Image: by BN App - Download now!
15. Image: by Mathias Apitz (München). “Eriyadu Maldives.” Maldives.