Rising seas, rising temperatures and worsening droughts triggered by climate change threaten to overrun 31 natural and cultural World Heritage sites in 29 countries, said a new report by the United Nations and allied environmental organizations.

The "World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate" study discovered that iconic tourism sites are becoming more vulnerable to sea level rise, steadily hotter temperatures, melting glaciers and more powerful weather events such as typhoons.

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The study's authors emphasized the importance of global warming mitigation to stave off the loss of these irreplaceable cultural icons. They said reducing greenhouse gases and restoring ecosystems in line with the Paris Agreement is "vital for the future of World Heritage." Climate resilience will be important to protecting the sites, said the study.

The study was a joint project among UNESCO, the United Nations Environment Program and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

"Globally, we need to better understand, monitor and address climate change threats to World Heritage sites," said Mechtild Rössler, director of UNESCO's World Heritage Center.

"As the report's findings underscore, achieving the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global temperature rise to a level well below 2°C is vitally important to protecting our World Heritage for current and future generations."

These endangered world heritage sites are:

* Wadi Rum Protected Area, Jordan

* Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda

* Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland

* Stonehenge, England

* Rock Islands Southern Lagoon, Palau

* Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal

* Lake Malawi National Park, Malawi

* Rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, the Philippines

* Mesa Verde National Park, USA

* Rapa Nui National Park, Chile

* Wadden Sea, Netherlands, Germany and Denmark

* Shiretoko, Japan

* The Statue of Liberty, USA

* Heart of Neaolithic Orkney, Scotland

* Venice and its Lagoon, Italy

* Lagoons of New Caledonia, France

* Old Town Lunenburg, Canada

* Komodo National Park, Indonesia

* Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara, Tanzania

* Huascarán National Park, Peru

* Hoi An Ancient Town, Vietnam

* Golden Mountains of Altai, Russia

* Galápagos Islands, Ecuador (Easter Island)

* Ouadi Qadisha and the Forest of the Cedars of God, Lebanon

* East Rennell, Solomon Islands

* Coro and its port, Venezuela

* Yellowstone National Park, USA

* Port, fortress and monuments in Cartagena, Columbia

* Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata, Mauritania

* Atlantic Forest, Brazil

* Cape Floral Regions Protected Areas, South Africa

TagsWorld Heritage Sites, UNESCO, Climate Change