There are 7 main natural wonders of the world:
- Northern Lights (aurora borealis) are found in northern Europe, creating incredible visual lights that dance on the sky, near the magnetic pole in the Arctic. They occur in Scandinavia, Alaska and northern Canada.
- The Grand Canyon is a huge geological wonder in the USA, located in Arizona near to Las Vegas. Apparently some creationists (who believe the world was formed less than 2000 years ago) have tried to pretend it was built recently!
- Paricutin is a cinder volcano in Mexico, which last became active back in the 1950s.
- Mount Everest is the world’s tallest mountain, and many climbers have died trying to reach the summit. Located in the Himalayas, they straddle Nepal and Tibet, and apparently we have many mountains nearly as high, but underneath the oceans.
- Harbour of Rio de Janeiro includes Sugar Loaf Mountain, and gives amazing views. Overlooking Tijuca National Park is the well-known statue of Christ the Redeemer.
- Victoria Falls are the large waterfalls on the Zambezi River in Africa (located in Zimbabwe and Zambia).
- The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is now at risk, due to bleaching from climate change and warming ocean temperatures. The 900 islands and 3000 reefs are home to many fish, coral and marine life.
e World
You’ve heard of the natural wonders of the world (like the Grand Canyon and Great Barrier Reef?) So what are the natural wonders of England? Let’s take a look!
- The Needles are set of three chalk points in the sea on the Isle of Wight. There was another one, but it crashed into the sea in a storm.
- Jurassic Coast is England’s only World Heritage Site, and where the dinosaurs used to live! Stretching across the south and south west coast, it also includes parts of the Isle of Wight. Weymouth has the fossil of a dinosaur that was so big, he would have eaten you in two bites!
- Cheddar Gorge (Somerset) is the largest in England, made by floods that melted out the rock 1 million years ago. You’ll find an underground river, rocks and the site of England’s oldest skeleton (Cheddar Man!)
- Malham Cove (Yorkshire) is a curving crag made from a melted cliff from the Ice Age. It looks like ‘rough paving slabs’ etched out by glacier ice and limestone.
- Seven Sisters Cliffs (Southern England) sit alongside the Sussex coast, and include cliffs along the way. They include Beachy Head (a well-known suicide spot) and further along the coast in Kent, you’ll find the white cliffs of Dover, just 20 miles or so from Calais in France.
