Places to visit NOW since Trump backed out of Climate Deal
If you’ve been hiding under a rock today, good for you! It might be one of the best places to get some shade in this warming planet. Today, Donald Trump announced his intention to pull out of the Paris Agreement, in a thinly veiled attempt to “protect American jobs.” Which jobs, I have no idea… because the future is clearly in green energy and green jobs.
It’s amazing that only Syria and Nicaragua did not join the Paris agreement, I mean shit, even North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and countries so poor you couldn’t locate them on a map joined together to combat what should be the focus of the world’s attention. Apparently, the world is not enough. America First.
WRONG!
What this does, however, is mean that the world is at an increasing risk to heat up even faster and soon, certain places will be destroyed, lost, or degraded beyond repair. There are a few places that should be on your list to visit soon, before it’s too late.
Great Barrier Reef
Ben and I had the opportunity to visit the Great Barrier Reef in 2014, and I’m glad we did. The scuba diving was amazing and the sea life incredibly diverse. But because of bleaching, the coral dies, and studies have shown that over 90% of the reef has already been exposed to some bleaching.
Venice, Italy
Venice already floods all the time, and the city has constructed massive flood barriers, the MOSE project, to protect the city from rising sea levels. Luckily, during our visit, we didn’t get flooded out, but the evidence from previous floods was everywhere.
Venice
Key West, FL
This one might be a shocker for you. The estimates from the Army Corps of Engineers is that levels in Key West will rise 15 inches over the next 30 years. The city is already combating flooding on a massive scale, and with these kind of numbers, it’s no wonder.
Seychelles and Maldives
We have yet to visit either of these island nations, but things are getting dire in the Malvides. Literally, they are BUILDING ISLANDS to survive, taking sand from nearby atolls and showing up new ones. The City of Hope should be finished in a few years. You can read a great article about that here.
Yellowstone National Park
National Parks
This one’s a no brainer. Climate change severely affects even the national parks and the wildlife associated with them. Think of Glacier National Park in Montana, which only has about 20% of its glaciers left. What are you going to call it afterwards… ex-glacier national park?
Miami, FL
Not that I’d recommend living in Miami for anyone (I did it for 5 years) it’s a great place to visit. But yes, with sea water levels rising, coastal cities like Miami are in trouble. Big trouble. Imagine Ocean Drive literally being in the ocean.
Adios Miami!
Alaska
The thawing of the permafrost in Alaska is threatening not only the wildlife but the way of living for thousands of residents in the area. Wildfires are becoming more commonplace, glaciers are melting, and coastal erosion is taking its toll.
When will it stop?
Ideology needs to move to the side and real facts needs to step in, as even the CEO of ExxonMobil is in favor of the agreement. The blatant ignorance and idiocy to pull out of a worldwide attempt to make our planet more sustainable and healthier is selfish and damaging. Perhaps France’s president put it best today when he said “I invite all those around the world, leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, to come to France. We will succeed, because we all share the same responsibility. Make Our Planet Great Again.
June 1, 2017
“Places to visit NOW”
“visit soon, before it’s too late.”
Lol. Why the heck is there no exclamation mark at the end of that dire warning? I mean, you’re telling us Miami is going to be underwater in a few years for heaven’s sake. Pretty sure that qualifies for an exclamation mark.
But seriously, you really need to chill (excuse the crass global warming-type pun). You obviously need to expand your sources of information on this.
But you did get one thing dead on…”Ideology needs to move to the side and real facts needs to step in.”
In addition to maybe hiring a copy editor, you may want to practice what you preach on this one boys and step away from the liberal kool-aid.
June 1, 2017
Hi Chris. We can argue about stylistic choices in punctuation all you want, but what we will not be arguing about is climate change. I personally do not care about what your opinion is when it comes to scientific facts like climate change, to be honest. We do not need to cite sources about climate change just like we do not need to cite sources about earth not being flat. Thanks for stopping by.
June 1, 2017
Grow up. Grow a brain. Get a life.
Point #1 – We hate hearing about politics on a travel blog.
Point #2 – God Bless Donald Trump. What he said in his speech is EXACTLY right. This was just another way to redistribute billions and billions and billions of American dollars to other countries, Jack.
June 1, 2017
Hi Steve. It does sound like this isn’t your blog really. We are of the idea that travel is indeed a political statement, and since these are our own personal opinions we express in this blog, you won’t be seeing them change any time soon. If what you’re looking for instead is confirmation bias, I’d suggest maybe going back to Breitbart or even Infowars. Thanks!
June 2, 2017
This is all quite comical. No one wants to read your political statements on a travel blog. Having said that, I’ll make it a point to avoid your blog.
June 2, 2017
Please do! We don’t really want to read comments from people who think damaging the environment is comical
June 2, 2017
If you really don’t want to damage the environment. Follow these
1. Stop taking unnecessary trips as planes emits not just as carbon dioxide (CO2) but also hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, lead and black carbon which interact among themselves and with the atmosphere.
2. Stop using Air Conditioner
3. Stop using Electronics as they are harmful to the environment.
4. Stop using Mobiles
and most important of all
5. Stop blogging.
June 2, 2017
While your comment is definitely ill-intentioned, you do have a point. And since we are very much for preserving the environment we go out of our way to offset those emissions. Living in Seattle we run an almost entirely trash free office and household, and we recycle and compost everything. Also, we don’t use air conditioners in Seattle for the most part, and we use public transport as well. I’m going to continue to do our best to offset these emissions just as passionately as we’ll continue to blog. Thanks.
June 2, 2017
Hah – nailed it, Ben!
July 3, 2017
i agree thank you for your comments ..will the moderator ever get it>???
July 4, 2017
The question is: Will you? No one is forcing you to keep coming back for more. You must really enjoy reading us! And for that, we thank you!
June 1, 2017
Thanks for that.
June 1, 2017
Fantastic post. Trump voters should hang their low IQ heads in shame, once again. On behalf of the planet, collectively you have no soul, compassion, integrity or responsibility.
June 1, 2017
Yes the deal was so important that the eu nations refuse to renegotiate as requested by the President. Who’s leaving the planet behind? What hypocrites. Google east Angelia hide the decline and read up and than read up on NOAA whistle blowers who are being silenced when talking about the subject or maybe how Antarctic is thickening not shrinking. Let me help you
https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/antarctic-sea-ice-reaches-new-record-maximum
These places were around before we walked the earth and they will be around when we are long gone. The arrogance of uninformed men is quite astonishing. Stick to what you think know.
@Andy you are confusing low IQ with low information of which you and these bloggers are in dire need.
June 2, 2017
You do realize the same article you cite actually refutes everything you just said in the first paragraph, right? Both polar ice caps have been in sharp decline for the past several decades, even if they presented a thickening period from 2012 to 2014.
We agreed to the terms of the accord, and we have to stick to it just like everyone else does (aka – check the definition of agreement). Also, while you are correct that the places were around before we had written history, I’d like us to be around and healthy for a while longer too. It is not arrogance to want the world preserved, but it definitely is idiocy when you cherry pick the ONE data point that agrees with your non-scientific, baseless, ignorant dogma to justify your erroneous views. Thanks for stopping by.
June 1, 2017
Great post!!
June 2, 2017
Love the post! Just wanted to leave a note of encourage to balance out the “others.” Scientific facts cannot be negated by opinion. Keep up the great blog.
June 2, 2017
Thanks, Nate! Much appreciated. Stick around, we have a lot of great stuff to share!
June 2, 2017
He’s horrible. He’s a LOSER. He thinks it’s ok to abuse women. He’s a bigot. He’s an embarrassment. He says dumb things. He’s covering up a lot of information. I can’t wait until he’s impeached. It’s not a matter of if, but when.
I’m a blogger. And if I write something (like about what it was like to participate in the Women’s March) and a reader doesn’t like it, then so be it.
Last night I stood with a group of people breaking their fast for Ramadan together in front of Trump Tower. Food was provided by the Halal Guys. It was delicious.
June 2, 2017
Climate change ( used to be called ” global warming” until all of the “facts” didn’t add up) is an issue that can be debated. I understand your position and did chuckle about some of the statements made. However, trashing our President in a travel blog ( yes, you, “Kathy”) by calling him names and insults, should be beneath an educated blogger. Even though I disagreed with almost every foreign policy decision, and most domestic policies,of Mr. Obama (and I ALWAYS referred to him that way out of respect for the office he held) I would not have debased myself by ranting in a manner like Kathy. I’ll keep reading this blog, even though my politics are different. Maybe I’ll stop reading Kathy’s blog.
And to commenter Andy – you should join Kathy hurling insults at one of her liberal gatherings! Seems like a lot of fun! LOL
June 2, 2017
Hi Melvin. I appreciate it. I definitely don’t agree with you, the facts are pretty solid. Having said that, I appreciate that you still want to read our blog and share a different opinion; clash of ideas is definitely valuable. I’d actually suggest that you go ahead and read Kathy’s blog though, for mostly the same reasons. She’s smart and really funny even if you both might not agree! Thanks for stopping by, man.
July 3, 2017
really dislike your politics in this blog.. i get that u are a liberal left wing voter with your head in the ground … goodbye to your BLOG u do not get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 4, 2017
Good bye! And thanks for the all-caps BLOG. We’d like to think we’re that big too! We appreciate your support.