National Landmarks Defenseless against Climate Change

Climate change is not only a looming threat to our environment; it also poses a risk to our nation's history. Climate change is putting US historic and cultural landmarks in jeopardy, according to a report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a non-profit science advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

"Sea-level rise, coastal erosion, increased flooding, heavy rains and more frequent large wildfires are damaging archaeological resources, historic buildings and cultural landscapes across the nation," says the report, titled "National Landmarks at Risk."

Archaeological resources, historic buildings and cultural landscapes across the nation are potentially at risk. The 30 such locations listed in the report include places where the first Americans lived, the Spaniards ruled, English colonists landed, slavery rose and fell, and gold prospectors struck it rich.

More notable locations include the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island; Jamestown, Va.; the Cape Hatteras (N.C.) Lighthouse; and the Kennedy Space Center.

"You can almost trace the history of the United States through these sites," Adam Markham, director of climate impacts at UCS and report co-author, told USA Today.

Across portions of the East and Gulf Coast, sea levels have already sought a rise by 1-2 feet across, reported USA Today last year, and global sea levels will rise about 1 foot to slightly more than 3 feet by 2100.

Aside from the aforementioned famous sites, it's mostly national parks that will suffer because of global warming, including Mesa Verde, Bandelier, Cape Hatteras and the Everglades. According to the National Park Service, 96 percent of park service land has been subjected to global warming's effects in the past century.

Jamestown in particular, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas, will likely be underwater by the end of the century, according to the UCS report.

Some may think that you don't need a national landmark to remember a nation's history, but these tourist attractions alone also generate more than $27 billion in revenue each year, USA Today reported.

"This report certainly echoes findings from an array of different peer-review studies and is very consistent with the challenges confronting our national security installations," said J. Marshall Shepherd, a University of Georgia atmospheric scientist who was not involved in the report.