National parks, ancient artefacts, monuments and barrier reefs at risk from global climate change

Citation

(2007), "National parks, ancient artefacts, monuments and barrier reefs at risk from global climate change", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 18 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2007.08318baf.001

National parks, ancient artefacts, monuments and barrier reefs at risk from global climate change

Cultural and nature-based heritage sites – from Charles Darwin’s favourite barrier reef in Belize and South Africa’s famous West Coast National Park to 600 year-old Thai ruins and archaeological sites in Scotland – are increasingly threatened by climate change.

Some of these priceless treasures are at risk as a result of impacts like rising sea levels, flooding and storms. Others, including mosques, cathedrals, monuments, and artefacts at ancient sites are threatened by changes in historic and local climatic conditions. These in turn may lead to subtle but damaging shifts in moisture levels affecting structures directly, or the chemistry and stability of soils in which they are found.

These are among the findings from a new report, The Atlas of Climate Change: Mapping the World’s Greatest Challenge, compiled by researchers with the Stockholm Environment Institute with assistance from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The findings are based on a welter of new studies by researchers across the globe. These include members of the World Heritage Committee linked with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Centre.

The report Predicting and Managing the Effects of Climate Change on World Heritage is at: http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/news/documents/news-262-1.doc