Seven New Natural Wonders Of The World
Jun. 11th, 2010 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deanenew7wonders is having a competition, for lack of a better term, to pick the seven "new" wonders of the world. They've already selected 28 finalists, based on user input. Now it's time for the internet masses to vote and I decided to bring all of you along for the ride as I make my choices.
As I go through the finalists, please bear in mind that for most of them I know little more than what their proponents have claimed for them on the web-site. Some of the finalists I already have some knowledge of but for many I am relying solely on what I've read on the web-site.
In my view there are two parts to the term, "wonder of the world". The first is the word "wonder", implying that the site in question must offer something that is wondrous. Something which inspires awe or fascination. Something out of the ordinary. All but two of the finalists meet this condition. In my opinion neither the Black Forest (Germany) nor the Masurian Lake District (Poland) are wonders. I've seen lots of forests and lots of lakes. I like them, but they don't generally fill me with wonder. So scratch those two.
The second part of the term is "of the world" meaning that the wonder must either be unique, not just within the confines of its home country but across the globe, or it should be the best example of its particular type of wonder. Here is where many of the finalists fail to make the grade: Bu Tinah Island (Abu Dhabi), the Cliffs of Moher (Ireland), El Yunque National Forest (Puerto Rico), Mud Volcanoes (Azerbaijan), Maldives (Maldives), Jejudo Island (South Korea), Halong Bay (Vietnam), Milford Bay (New Zealand) and Yushan mountain range (Taiwan). They all look beautiful and amazing and I would love to visit them, but if they are unique in any way their proponents have failed dismally to communicate it.
That cuts the field down to the following 17:
I've got to get rid of 10 of these suckers, so it's time to get brutal.
With so many entrants which made the cut so easily, it's clear that those which barely scraped by should be the first to go. So say goodbye to Matterhorn and Mount Vesuvius.
As noted in the table above, what makes the Dead Sea unique is its elevation, which isn't very wondrous. What makes it wondrous are the salt formations along its coast, but those aren't particularly unique. So the Dead Sea gets cut.
All that Komodo National Park has going for it is the Komodo dragon. There are lots of other unique species with limited habitat in the world. I don't see why the Komodo dragon deserves to be elevated above all the rest.
"Richest collection of floral species in the world" doesn't sound wondrous enough to my ear, especially compared to the competition. That leaves Table Mountain as just one among many large tabletop mesas in the world, so it gets cut.
Can't have two waterfalls on the list and Angel Falls is clearly the more wondrous and unique of the two, so much as it pains me to do so, Iguazu Falls must come off the list.
Down to 11 now. Four more to cut.
A big mangrove forest just does not elicit enough wonder in me for Sunderbans Delta to stay on the list.
Jeita Grotto and Puerto Princesa Underground River both rely on their underground rivers for being on the list, which puts them in competition with each other. While Puerto Princesa is truly unique (world's longest underground river) that's essential an intellectual wonder. Jeita Grotto's wonder is immediate and visual which makes it more visceral, more of a true wonder. So I'm going to cut Puerto Princesa, albeit grudgingly, and keep Jeita Grotto.
Two to go. This is really getting painful now.
As with the underground rivers, Mount Kilimanjaro and Uluru are in competition with each other. In both we have large, distinctive rock formations which stand out in the countryside for many kilometers around them. They are both true wonders but it wouldn't be fair to the others to have two such similar wonders on the list. So one must go. Since Kilimanjaro holds a real record (tallest free-standing mountain) compared to Uluru's sort-of record (largest "rock") it gets the nod. Australians can console themselves that they still have the Great Barrier Reef.
And now for the final cut.
I've walked in the Bay of Fundy and I was honestly filled with wonder, looking way up above my head and knowing that that's where the tide would be when it came back in. But is it as much of a wonder as Uluru or Iguazu Falls, neither of which made the cut? Unfortunately, no. So I must, sadly, reject the only finalist from my native land.
That leaves my final seven as follows: Grand Canyon, Angel Falls, Amazon Rain Forest, Galapagos Islands, Jeita Grotto, Kilimanjaro, Great Barrier Reef.
My congratulations to the winners and condolences to the losers: it was a hard-fought battle.
As I go through the finalists, please bear in mind that for most of them I know little more than what their proponents have claimed for them on the web-site. Some of the finalists I already have some knowledge of but for many I am relying solely on what I've read on the web-site.
In my view there are two parts to the term, "wonder of the world". The first is the word "wonder", implying that the site in question must offer something that is wondrous. Something which inspires awe or fascination. Something out of the ordinary. All but two of the finalists meet this condition. In my opinion neither the Black Forest (Germany) nor the Masurian Lake District (Poland) are wonders. I've seen lots of forests and lots of lakes. I like them, but they don't generally fill me with wonder. So scratch those two.
The second part of the term is "of the world" meaning that the wonder must either be unique, not just within the confines of its home country but across the globe, or it should be the best example of its particular type of wonder. Here is where many of the finalists fail to make the grade: Bu Tinah Island (Abu Dhabi), the Cliffs of Moher (Ireland), El Yunque National Forest (Puerto Rico), Mud Volcanoes (Azerbaijan), Maldives (Maldives), Jejudo Island (South Korea), Halong Bay (Vietnam), Milford Bay (New Zealand) and Yushan mountain range (Taiwan). They all look beautiful and amazing and I would love to visit them, but if they are unique in any way their proponents have failed dismally to communicate it.
That cuts the field down to the following 17:
| Site | Country | What Makes It Unique |
|---|---|---|
| Bay of Fundy | Canada | Highest tides in the world. |
| Grand Canyon | USA | Largest canyon in the world. |
| Angel Falls | Venezuela | Highest waterfall in the world. |
| Amazon Rain Forest | primarily Brazil | Largest rain forest in the world. |
| Galapagos Islands | Ecuador | Largest number of endemic species, if not in the world then at least per square kilometer of land mass. |
| Iguazu Falls | Argentina Brazil | Admittedly this only counts as "one of" the largest waterfalls in the world, but it's the largest one on the list and looking at the photos it's hard to believe that there isn't something unique about this place. Maybe the largest number of individual falls per hectare? |
| Matterhorn | Italy Switzerland | This one only narrowly met my uniqueness guideline, due solely to its distinctive and arresting appearance. |
| Mount Vesuvius | Italy | There are plenty of active and inactive volcanoes in the world. What makes Vesuvius unique is its connection to human history through the destruction of Pompey. Had Krakatoa been on the list I would have picked it over Vesuvius, though. |
| Jeita Grotto | Lebanon | There doesn't seem to be any one unique thing here. Its underground river is long, but not the world's largest. Its limestone caverns are big, but not the world's largest. Some of its stalactites are huge, but not the world's biggest. However Jeita Grotto comes so close in so many categories that I think the combination makes it sufficiently unique to be considered a wonder of the world. |
| Dead Sea | Israel Jorden Palestine | The lowest dry land in the world. While that makes it unique, it doesn't tally very high in the "wonder" category. That's supplied by the sea itself and its fantastic salt structures. |
| Kilimanjaro | Tanzania | Tallest free-standing mountain in the world. |
| Table Mountain | South Africa | Richest collection of floral species in the world. |
| Sunderbans Delta | Bangladesh India | Largest mangrove forest in the world. |
| Puerto Princesa Underground River | Philippines | Longest underground river in the world. |
| Komodo National Park | Indonesia | Home of the Komodo dragon, the largest lizard in the world. |
| Uluru | Australia | Also known as "Ayer's Rock", it sometimes called the biggest rock in the world, although I think that's just a clever bit of sophistry. What's really unique about Uluru is the combination of its red colour and how it stands out in the middle of an otherwise flat landscape. |
| Great Barrier Reef | Australia | Largest coral reef system in the world. |
I've got to get rid of 10 of these suckers, so it's time to get brutal.
With so many entrants which made the cut so easily, it's clear that those which barely scraped by should be the first to go. So say goodbye to Matterhorn and Mount Vesuvius.
As noted in the table above, what makes the Dead Sea unique is its elevation, which isn't very wondrous. What makes it wondrous are the salt formations along its coast, but those aren't particularly unique. So the Dead Sea gets cut.
All that Komodo National Park has going for it is the Komodo dragon. There are lots of other unique species with limited habitat in the world. I don't see why the Komodo dragon deserves to be elevated above all the rest.
"Richest collection of floral species in the world" doesn't sound wondrous enough to my ear, especially compared to the competition. That leaves Table Mountain as just one among many large tabletop mesas in the world, so it gets cut.
Can't have two waterfalls on the list and Angel Falls is clearly the more wondrous and unique of the two, so much as it pains me to do so, Iguazu Falls must come off the list.
Down to 11 now. Four more to cut.
A big mangrove forest just does not elicit enough wonder in me for Sunderbans Delta to stay on the list.
Jeita Grotto and Puerto Princesa Underground River both rely on their underground rivers for being on the list, which puts them in competition with each other. While Puerto Princesa is truly unique (world's longest underground river) that's essential an intellectual wonder. Jeita Grotto's wonder is immediate and visual which makes it more visceral, more of a true wonder. So I'm going to cut Puerto Princesa, albeit grudgingly, and keep Jeita Grotto.
Two to go. This is really getting painful now.
As with the underground rivers, Mount Kilimanjaro and Uluru are in competition with each other. In both we have large, distinctive rock formations which stand out in the countryside for many kilometers around them. They are both true wonders but it wouldn't be fair to the others to have two such similar wonders on the list. So one must go. Since Kilimanjaro holds a real record (tallest free-standing mountain) compared to Uluru's sort-of record (largest "rock") it gets the nod. Australians can console themselves that they still have the Great Barrier Reef.
And now for the final cut.
I've walked in the Bay of Fundy and I was honestly filled with wonder, looking way up above my head and knowing that that's where the tide would be when it came back in. But is it as much of a wonder as Uluru or Iguazu Falls, neither of which made the cut? Unfortunately, no. So I must, sadly, reject the only finalist from my native land.
That leaves my final seven as follows: Grand Canyon, Angel Falls, Amazon Rain Forest, Galapagos Islands, Jeita Grotto, Kilimanjaro, Great Barrier Reef.
My congratulations to the winners and condolences to the losers: it was a hard-fought battle.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-13 01:42 pm (UTC)Amazon Rain Forest
Galapagos Islands
Dead Sea
Table Mountain
Sunderbans Delta
Komodo National Park
Great Barrier Reef