Now that the New Seven Wonders of the World have been selected, the same Swiss corporation is doing another internet poll, the New Seven Wonders of Nature, the results of which will be announced in 2011. Originally the Seven Wonders of Nature were the following (in no particular order):
1) Victoria Falls (Africa)
2) Harbor at Rio de Janeiro (South America)
3) Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
4) Mount Everest (Asia)
5) Aurora Borealis (Arctic Circle)
6) Grand Canyon (North America)
7) Paricutin Volcano (North America)
Personally, I don’t know why they want to revise this list. It has none of the flaws of the original Seven Wonders of the World as listed by Herodotus, and in fact it represents almost all seven continents in the world (well, if you take the liberty of substituting the Arctic for the Antarctic). The one glaring omission is Europe (surely there must be some Natural Wonder that Europe can claim? I’m thinking, the Matterhorn in Switzerland, or the fjords of Norway, or Germany’s Black Forest, or the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland…). The only one on the list which made me go “Huh?†is the Paricutin Volcano in Mexico (it’s only unique because the entire life cycle of the volcano was witnessed from birth to dormancy)—but all the others make perfect sense. I say, axe Paricutin and put in a European Wonder of Nature. But there’s nothing we can do about that—we just have to wait and see what New Seven Wonders of Nature they come up with! Or, you can participate by voting here.
