• About
  • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
BREAKING: 40% of Fossil Fuels Now Under Development Must Stay in the Ground May 17, 2022
Rocky Mountain Glaciers ‘Past Tipping Point’, with Some Expected to Vanish by 2030 May 17, 2022
UK Activists Block Russian Oil Tanker From Docking in Essex May 17, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: Bid to Revive Doomed Nova Scotia LNG Project Collides with Germany’s Net-Zero Plans May 16, 2022
3,800 Residents Ordered to Evacuate after Flooding in Hay River, NWT May 16, 2022
Next
Prev
Home Climate News Network

Climate damage threatens heritage sites

May 27, 2016
Reading time: 3 minutes
Primary Author: Alex Kirby

Climate damage threatens heritage sites

Ancient earth-built structures such as the Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali are at risk.

 

Scientists warn that some of the jewels in the crown of the world’s natural and man-made treasures face decay and destruction because of climate change.

LONDON, 27 May, 2016 – A world that faces the loss of the Statue of Liberty, where the ancient Italian city of Venice has been overwhelmed by flooding and a Ugandan forest that shelters mountain gorillas is at risk is all too real a possibility, says a new report.

Its authors say 31 natural and cultural world heritage sites in 29 countries have been identified as affected by climate change. The impacts include rising temperatures, higher sea levels, more extreme weather, and fiercer droughts.

The report by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the UN Environment Programme and the Union of Concerned Scientists says climate change is rapidly proving to be one of the most significant risks for world heritage sites.

In an ironic twist, one of the sites the report lists is a national park on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), 500 km west of Chile. It faces water shortage, sea level rise and coastal erosion. Some scientists have suggested that the collapse centuries ago of the island’s civilisation was caused by human over-exploitation of its resources.

Tourist attractions

The report says climate change is a major threat to some of the world’s most popular tourist attractions, to the tourism industry itself, and to the entire economies of some countries which are home to the sites.

It says tourism, one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economic sectors, generates 9% of the world’s gross domestic product and provides one job in every 11 globally. But the authors warn that unplanned or poorly managed tourism is itself a separate threat to many heritage sites.

They list some of the climate threats to the sites, including damage from extreme wind and rainfall, coastal erosion, flooding and increasing damp. Changes in soil moisture destabilises building foundations, and thawing permafrost can cause problems for Arctic sites.

“Some of the archaeological resources that can provide insights for our future by opening windows on the past are in danger of being lost”

Humidity causes mould, rot and insect infestations inside buildings. In the open air, earthen architecture is at particular risk, and many such sites – for example, the Djenné mosque in Mali, West Africa – are in jeopardy.

Rising sea levels in the Adriatic have already damaged hundreds of buildings in Venice.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy raised wave heights in New York Harbour to a record 9.91 metres, and the Statue of Liberty, the report says, faces a drastically increased risk from future storms, although Sandy was judged to be a once-in-700-years event.

Valuable lessons

But while $100 million has been allocated to protecting the statue and its surroundings, and work to protect Venice costing $6 billion is nearing completion, the amount available to the World Heritage Fund totals $4 million – a drop in the ocean, the authors say, to support a thousand sites.

The report includes a number of recommendations. One, which could be valuable more widely than to heritage and tourism alone, is to make sure we learn the lessons of the past while we can.

It urges scientists to “analyse archaeological data and cultural heritage to use what can be learned from past human responses to climatic change to increase climate resilience for the future”.

But it warns that there’s little time to lose: “Some of the archaeological resources that can provide insights for our future by opening windows on the past are in danger of being lost, particularly in rapidly warming Arctic regions and along eroding coastal and riverine sites.” – Climate News Network



in Climate News Network

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Smoke from wildfires kills thousands annually
Climate News Network

Smoke from wildfires kills thousands annually

September 24, 2021
62
Warming seas cut marine mammals’ survival chances
Climate News Network

Warming seas cut marine mammals’ survival chances

September 13, 2021
37
Earth’s future ‘hinges on UN Glasgow climate talks’
Climate News Network

Earth’s future ‘hinges on UN Glasgow climate talks’

September 10, 2021
26

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Mounting Drought Risk Confronts London, Other World Cities

Mounting Drought Risk Confronts London, Other World Cities

May 19, 2022
127
85,000-Hectare Fort Mac Wildfire Expected to Grow for Days

Six Traumatic Years After ‘The Beast’, Fort McMurray Remains Loyal to Big Oil

May 19, 2022
88
Ontario Contemplates ‘Ultra-Low Carbon’ Super-Agency

Ontario’s New Highway 413 Would Boost Emissions, Bake In ‘Auto-Dependent Sprawl’

May 19, 2022
64

BREAKING: 40% of Fossil Fuels Now Under Development Must Stay in the Ground

May 18, 2022
432
New Congressional Funding, Tax Credit Extensions Create ‘Enabling Conditions for Decarbonization’

ESG Becomes Latest ‘Acronym-Based Outrage’ in U.S. Republicans’ Culture Wars

May 19, 2022
63
‘New New Math’ Means Keeping Even More Fossils in the Ground: McKibben

U.S. Can’t Drill Its Way to Energy Security, Jenkins Warns

May 19, 2022
58

Recent Posts

Newfoundland Offers Suncor $175 Million to Restart Terra Nova Offshore Oilfield

Newfoundland Opens New Round of Offshore Oil Bidding

May 19, 2022
51
Farmers’ Mental Health Strained by Climate-Driven Weather Extremes

Farmers’ Mental Health Strained by Climate-Driven Weather Extremes

May 19, 2022
51
Calgary Company to Supply 180 MWh of Battery Capacity to Alberta Grid

Calgary Company to Supply 180 MWh of Battery Capacity to Alberta Grid

May 19, 2022
56
Customer Demand Pushes U.S. Utilities Toward Solar, Energy Services

Power Sector Giants Promote ‘Fair, Just Transition to Net-Zero’

May 19, 2022
51
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Haiyan

Fossils Liable For Human Rights Violations in Landmark Ruling by Philippines Commission

May 19, 2022
34
Food and Fashion Sectors Lead Widening Spread of Climate Careers

Food and Fashion Sectors Lead Widening Spread of Climate Careers

May 19, 2022
29
Next Post
Changing seas become octopus’s garden

Changing seas become octopus’s garden

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}

2022 ONTARIO GENERAL ELECTION

KEEP UP WITH ONTARIO’S CLIMATE CHANGE ELECTION

election-checkmark
Get Election Notifications

2022 ONTARIO GENERAL ELECTION

KEEP UP WITH ONTARIO’S CLIMATE CHANGE ELECTION

election-checkmark
Get Election Notifications
The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

2022 ONTARIO GENERAL ELECTION

KEEP UP WITH ONTARIO’S CLIMATE CHANGE ELECTION

election-checkmark
Get Election Notifications

2022 ONTARIO GENERAL ELECTION

KEEP UP WITH ONTARIO’S CLIMATE CHANGE ELECTION

election-checkmark
Get Election Notifications
The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

2022 Ontario General Election

Keep up with Ontario’s Climate Change Election

election-checkmark
GET THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST

2022 Ontario General Election

Keep up with Ontario’s Climate Change Election

election-checkmark
GET THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST
The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

2022 Ontario General Election

Keep up with Ontario’s Climate Change Election

election-checkmark
GET THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST

2022 Ontario General Election

Keep up with Ontario’s Climate Change Election

election-checkmark
GET THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST
The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?