The latest climate change threat involves the tangible reminders of our country's history: national landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and historic Jamestown, Va.
These and other beloved sites are at risk as sea levels increase, according to a report released Tuesday by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists.
"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," wrote the researchers, as quoted by USA TODAY.
Listing 30 threatened locations, the report predicted that Jamestown will be under water by the end of the century. Historic districts in Annapolis, Md., Charleston, S.C., and St. Augustine, Fla., are also in danger from rising ocean waters and other factors.
"The imminent risks to these sites and the artifacts they contain threaten to pull apart the quilt that tells the story of the nation's heritage and history," Adam Markham, the group's director of climate impacts and a report co-author, said in a statement quoted by CNN.
The United Nations recently released a report saying that global sea levels will likely rise 1 foot to more than 3 feet by the end of the century.
Besides historic sites and monuments, national parks are also at risk, according to the National Park Service, which puts 96 percent of park service land in areas where scientists have recorded climate change in the past century.
Some caution to take these figures with a grain of salt since the Earth's climate also fluctuates naturally on its own.
"There is a tendency to confuse the impacts of climate with the impacts of human-caused climate change," Chip Knappenberger of the Cato Institute, a free-market Washington think tank, told USA TODAY.
"This most certainly is taking place in the UCS report. Most of the examples in the report are located in areas where the extremes of the natural climate pose significant threats and expose vulnerabilities," said Knappenberger.
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