The Statue of Liberty welcomes your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, but keep your global warming.
Lady Liberty is at risk of becoming a wretched refuse tempest-tossed by rising sea levels as climate change continues to reach alarming rates, the United Nations revealed in a report on Thursday.
The New York monument had endured extreme forces of nature when Superstorm Sandy hit in October 2012, flooding 75% of Liberty Island, causing up to $77 million in damages.
Lady Liberty didn’t open for vistors again until about a year after the devastating superstorm.
“100% of the assets at Liberty National Monument are at ‘high exposure’ risk from sea-level rise due to the extremely low elevation of the island and its vulnerability to storms,” the UN warned in its World Heritage and Tourism report. “The assets at risk on Liberty and Ellis Islands, including the Statue of Liberty are valued at more than $1.5 billion, but the intangible cost of future damage to this international symbol of freedom and democracy is incalculable.”
The statue is built to survive winds of 150 mph, but could still suffer its downfall from rising tides and serious water damage.
The report warned of several iconic locations around the world that could be lost from global warming, including the Galapagos Island, Stonehenge, Venice and Easter Island.
In total, there were 31 wonders of the world in 29 countries that could be destroyed as temperatures continue to rise with intense weather.
Potential for monumental disasters should serve as a wake-up call to preserve the climate in order to save their culture, Elisa Tonda, the department’s head of the Responsible Industry and Value Chains Unit said in a statement.
“World governments, the private sector and tourists all need to coordinate their efforts to reduce carbon emissions and to protect the world’s most treasured cultural and natural resources from the impact of tourism activities,” Tonda said.
The warning is a push to lower Earth’s global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius, a goal set during the Paris Agreement.
