7 Natural Wonders of the World

Very soon the current 7 natural wonders of the world will be re-evaluated and people across the world will be voting on the new natural wonders. Nevertheless, they are incredible creations of nature.

Let me know what you think the new 7 natural wonders should be.

The view from the top of the Grand Canyon is awe-inspiring. Arizona, USA is home to this colourful steep-sided gorge, which took millions of years to create by the Colorado River. There are two very different parts to this natural wonder. The North Rim is where a canopy of Douglas firs, Ponderosa pines, birch and aspen trees, mule deer, wild turkeys, squirrels, coyotes, lynxes, mountain lions and bears, make their homes. While overhead ravens, Pinon Jays, Stellar's Jays and other birds soar. The South Rim is very a desert-like with a few Pinon pines, Utah Juniper, Douglas firs, cacti, agaves and yucca. The first European to see the Grand Canyon was Spanish explorer Garcia Lopez de Cardenas. He totally underestimated the size of the canyon and was surprised when after 3 days of trekking had not reached the river at the bottom.

Paricutin is a volcano in the Mexico. On February 20 in 1943, Dionisio Pulido, his wife and son were working in his cornfield when they were interrupted by the birth of the world's youngest volcano. This is how Dinisio describes the his experience:

"At 4 p.m., I left my wife to set fire to a pile of branches when I noticed that a grotto, which was situated on one of the knolls of my farm, had opened ... and I saw that it was a kind of fissure that had a depth of only half a meter. I set about to ignite the branches again, when I felt a thunder, the trees trembled, and I turned to speak to Paula; and it was then I saw how, in the hole, the ground swelled out and raised itself two or two and one-half meters high, and a kind of smoke or fine dust -- gray, like ashes -- began to rise up in a portion of the crack ... Immediately more smoke began to rise, with a hiss or whistle, loud and continuous, and there was a smell of sulfur. I then became greatly frightened."

The lava that flowed from the volcano covered the nearby towns of Parcutin and San Juan Parangaricutiro. The volcano grew rapidly in the first year, 336 meters high. Growth slowed after that but it grew steadily to 424 meters. Finally, in 1952 Paricutin fell silent and is now a monogenetic volcano.

The Great Barrier Reef is a marine park off the north-eastern coast Australia, the world's largest living reef system, consisting of about 2800 reefs and the only living structure, which is visible from the moon. The Each reef is a haven of life separated by a clear almost lifeless blue sea. The many different coral and sea life create an underwater haven of vibrant color. There are 1,500 different kinds of fish, 350 different coral and 6,000 of crustaceans, 5,000 species of molluscs, reptile and marine mammals.

The Northern lights are also known as the Aurora Borealis named after the Roman Goddess of the Dawn and is visible in the North sky in the Northern Hemisphere . They are best viewed in the auroral zone, which is the northern regions of Scandinavia through Iceland, the southern tip of Greenland, the southern region of Hudson Bay, Alaska, and on to the coast of Siberia.

The "show" starts with a glimmer just after sunset and intensifies after dark. This amazing show is created as the sun gives off high-energy charged particles, ions, which travelling into space at speeds of 300 to 1200 kilometres per second. These particles form a cloud called a plasma or a solar wind. When the solar winds reach the edge of the earth's magnetic field some of the particles become trapped. The trapped particles then collide with the gases in the ionosphere they begin to glow, creating the spectacular display of red, green, blue and violet lights in the night sky. The changing interaction between the solar wind and the earth's magnetic field creates the motion of the lights.

The solar wind can generate up to 1000,000 megawatts of electricity during a display disrupting power lines, radio and television broadcasts and satellite communications.

The local people call the Victoria Falls "Mosi-oa-Tunya" -- the smoke that thunders. There is magic about them manifested in the towering column of spray when the river is high, the thunder of the falling water, the terrifying abyss and tranquil lagoons upstream in which hippo and deadly crocodiles lurk.

The Victoria falls is 1 708 meters wide, making it the largest curtain of water in the world. I The Falls drop 90m and 107m into the Zambezi Gorge and an average of 550,000 cubic metres of every minute.

Remarkably preserved in its natural state, Victoria falls inspires visitors as much today as it did David Livingstone in the 1860's. The falls and the surrounding area have been declared National Parks and a World Heritage Site, thus preserving the area from excessive commercialization.

The best time to view the Falls are from February onwards, this is after the rain season, when the water flow is at its strongest and the most amount of spray.

Harbor of Rio de Janeiro is located on the east coast of Brazil, in the Guanabara Bay and Atlantic Ocean; Portuguese explorers who thought that they had reached the mouth of some immense river discovered the Rio de Janeiro harbor. They are believed to have been the first Europeans to see the bay in 1502. The Tupi Indians are the natives of the place.

The Spanish navigators called the bay "Rio de Janeiro" (River of January) in honor of the month they arrived on. Hugging the steep hill sides the Harbor of Rio de Janeiro looks at the shore past the1,325-ft Sugar Loaf Mountain which juts into the bay. Other mountains loom at the north and west. True European settlement didn't take place on the bay until more than 60 years later, when the Portuguese, in 1494, claimed this entire region as a colony and built a fort to keep French traders away from their holdings. The harbor is slowly sinking along the bay. Moreover, it keeps getting smaller every year to accommodate homes and public places. The beaches adjoining the Harbor of Rio de Janeiro are crowded and even polluted in some instances. The natural beauty of Brazil's mountains by the bay, however, is unquestionable.

Mount Everest is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, which will be admired from a distance by most. Along the Himalayas, Everest rises to over 29,000 feet above the earth. Named Himalaya "abode of snow" because of the sheer mass of snow on the mountain's side.Many aspiring climbers have aspired to get to the summit of Everest, New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the pinnacle on May 29, 1953. And since then more than 700 have also achieved this goal, but 150 have died trying. There is more to Mount Everest, it is located in the beautiful Sagarmatha National Park. The torrential monsoon rains in June, turn the park into a beautiful landscape with different flowers where 118 species of birds and 26 species of butterflies live. The park is home to deer, wild yak, red panda, snow leopard, and Himalayan wolves who have adapted to the thin oxygen and cold temperatures.

You can find more facts about the 7 Natural Wonders of the World

Find out more about the New 7 Natural Wonders of the World

These are the 7 Natural Wonders of the world right now - but they will soon change