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New Orleans' hurricane-ravaged historic neighborhoods, the Church of the Nativity under Palestinian control in Bethlehem, cultural heritage sites in Iraq and the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu in Peru are among the 100 most endangered sites, according to the World Monuments Fund.

The U.S. locations also include historic Route 66, the fabled east-west highway flanked by eccentric, deteriorating attractions, and the New York State Pavilion, a rusting remnant of the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York City's Queens borough.

The United States is home to more listed sites than any other country — seven — including types of development such as "Main Street Modern" public buildings that symbolized progress after World War II. There are six sites listed in Peru and five each in India and Turkey.

This year's list, with 59 countries represented, is the first to add global warming to a roster of forces the organization says threatens humanity's architectural and cultural heritage. Other factors include political conflict, pollution, development and tourism pressures, and a thirst for modernity in buildings and lifestyles.

On Herschel Island, Canada, melting permafrost threatens ancient Inuit sites and a historic whaling town. In Chinguetti, Mauritania, the desert is encroaching on an ancient mosque. In Antarctica, a hut once used by a British explorer, Capt. Robert Falcon Scott, has survived almost a century of freezing conditions but is now in danger of being engulfed by increasingly heavy snows.

Political conflicts are clouding the future of all of Iraq's cultural heritage sites and the remnants of two ancient, giant Buddha statues in Afghanistan's province of Bamiyan, in the fund's view. The statues were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, but there have been some efforts to restore them.

Growth pressures are being felt in places such as Ireland's Hill of Tara, an earthen fort where Celtic chieftains jockeyed for power and legend says St. Patrick confronted paganism. A planned highway, intended to ease commuting between Dublin and a northwestern suburb, would pass near the hill.

Other places, such as Peru's famed Machu Picchu, are considered threatened by their own popularity. A new bridge recently opened to cater to backpackers headed to Machu Picchu, although government cultural experts said it could bring too many tourists to the delicate Inca ruins.

The list is issued every two years; more than three-quarters of the places listed in previous years are no longer imperiled, according to the organization. A group of experts chose the sites from hundreds of nominations submitted by governments, conservationists and others. The selections were based on the sites' importance and the urgency of the dangers to them, the organization said.