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From archaeological ruins in Scotland to 13th century mosques in the Sahara, climate change could destroy some of the world's most important natural and cultural heritage sites.
Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Environment Programme, says sites that have existed for thousands of years "may, by virtue of climate change, very well not be available to future generations".
Rising sea levels and increased temperatures threaten seaside cities that have lasted for centuries, some of the world's most important national parks, and a coral reef in Belize that Charles Darwin once described as "the most remarkable reef in the West Indies".
Tom Downing, co-author of a newly released study called The Atlas of Climate Change says: "Our world is changing, there is no going back."
The study cites damage already done to wildlife parks such as the Donana National Park in southern Spain, a 50,000ha wetland that has lost more than 100 plant species in the past century because of increased water use.
Elsewhere, the Cape Floral Kingdom in South Africa has the largest number of species anywhere on the planet. Already the 550,000ha site is experiencing changes in soil moisture and winter rainfall that threaten the existence of plants.
Some African countries are already drawing up plans to relocate their national parks, allowing animals to migrate to different regions if changes to the climate make their existing migration patterns unsustainable.
"The answer to climate change cannot be to lock things up in museums or in zoos," Mr Steiner said. But with the right investment, it was possible for such sites to adapt to climate change.
Coral reefs in the Indian Ocean, damaged by bleaching caused by rising sea temperatures in the 1990s, "are recovering better in marine protected areas, whereas those exposed to impacts from coastal developments and pollution are faring worse".
Koichiro Matsuura, director-general of Unesco, the organisation that chooses world heritage sites, said protecting them from the effects of climate change had become "an intergovernmental priority of the highest order".
The Atlas of Climate Change was released to coincide with the UN Convention on Climate Change in Nairobi, where 6000 delegates from around the world are discussing ways of meeting the challenges of global warming.
A new UN report has claimed that up to 70 million Africans could be at risk from floods caused by rising sea levels.
But Mr Downing said the risk to heritage sites helped to bring home the dangers of climate change to those who might not otherwise feel directly affected.
"This is one of those aspects that affects everybody. How many of us will be affected by a tropical cyclone? Not many. But we will all be affected by the loss of our cultural monuments."
Tourist sites are also at risk. The ancient Egyptian monuments of Alexandria are threatened by coastal erosion and rising water levels in the Nile delta region. In northeastern Thailand, floods have already damaged the 600-year-old ruins of Ayutthaya, the country's capital from the 14th to the 18th century.
Mauritania's Chinguetti mosque, a world heritage site on the edge of the Sahara that is home to a collection of ancient Islamic manuscripts, is at risk from increased desertification.
In Peru, accelerated melting of glaciers is threatening the Chavin de Huantar, home to pre-Inca treasures and temples.
The industrialised world is not immune. Flooding across Europe in 2002 damaged concert halls, theatres, museums and libraries - as well as 500,000 books and documents. In Canada, a deterioration of the permafrost at a 19th-century whalers' settlement is affecting many historic graves.
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