THE SPECTACULAR NOW

It’s time to stop and stare.

EDITOR’S POV From Burma’s Forbidden Islands to Hokkaido, Japan, newly accessible and newly trendy places are always high on lists of where to go next. But another travel category—see it before it’s gone—is gaining momentum. The sights in this category are threatened by everything from urbanization to global warming and might not be around to explore forever. The polar bears around Churchill, Man., fall into this group because their habitat—the sea ice on Hudson Bay—is melting. While these bears are remarkable to behold, the reality of seeing them is already bittersweet. Now or never is one kind of travel I hope becomes a thing of the past. CHRISTINA REYNOLDS