Statue of Liberty, Kennedy Space Station, Kellogg's Cornflakes all menaced by climate change, say experts

Statue of Liberty, Kennedy Space Station, Kellogg's Cornflakes all menaced by climate change, say experts

Many of America’s most iconic monuments and breakfast cereals are threatened by climate change, according to two new reports produced by “experts.”

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), an advocacy group, no fewer than 30 heritage sites across the US are at imminent risk. These include: Boston Historic District (which could be inundated if there’s a five-foot sea level rise); Mesa Verde National Park (which might have more severe bush fires); Jamestown (rising sea levels, natch); Bandelier National Monument (bush fires, again).

Lest anyone mistake this for just a list of vaguely well known monuments tendentiously linked to a scientifically questionable phenomenon and then attractively arranged in a glossy brochure funded by left-liberal foundations, the document includes a serious paragraph reassuring us that climate change matters and is real.

Given the scale of the problem and the cultural value of the places at risk, it is not enough merely to plan for change and expect to adapt. We must begin now to prepare our threatened landmarks to face worsening climate impacts; climate resilience must become a national priority and we must allocate the necessary resources.

Indeed.

In more depressing news from elsewhere, science experts from another well-funded advocacy group, Oxfam, have concluded that the prices of at least three major breakfast cereals can be expected to rocket because of climate change.

In the United States, Oxfam says, Frosted Flakes could be 20% more expensive by 2030 due to climate change, and 30% more expensive in the U.K. Kix could be up to 24% more expensive in the U.S. while Corn Flakes could be 30% pricier. British Corn Flakes lovers, meanwhile, would have to pay 44% more for a box of the cereal.

Mysteriously, however, the public appears largely indifferent to the imminent loss of their favourite tourist attractions and most cherished breakfast cereals. A Gallup poll earlier this week showed that just three percent of Americans put the “environment” on the top of their list of concerns, while in Britain, too people are showing less and less interest in climate change and renewable energy.

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