Climate change is threatening the world's cultural heritage with scientists estimating that 136 of 700 listed cultural monuments by UNESCO will soon be under water.

 

A new study by Ben Marzeion from the University of Innsbruck and Anders Levermann from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said that from the Statue of Liberty in New York to the Tower of London and the Sydney Opera House -- sea-level rise will not only affect settlement areas but also numerous world heritage sites listed by UNESCO.

 

The monuments are in UNESCO 's World Heritage List.

 

Nearly one-fifth of world cultural heritage sites would be affected by global warming of a further three degrees Celsius, they said.

 

If global average temperature increases by just one degree Celsius more than 40 of these sites will be threatened by the water during the next 2000 years.

 

With a temperature increase of three degrees, about one fifth of the cultural world heritage will be affected in the long term.

 

Among the world heritage sites affected are the historical city centers of Bruges, Naples, Istanbul and St Petersburg and a number of sites in India and China.

 

Apart from historical cultural monuments, regions that are currently populated by millions of people would be affected. Twelve countries around the world could lose more than half of their present land area and about 30 countries could lose one tenth of their area if temperatures rose by three degrees.