Conservation of Cultural Properties

Abstract

Europe has assumed a leadership role in establishing research projects (e.g. NOAH’s ARK) on the impact of climate change on cultural heritage, in an era of improving urban air quality. The work performed has taken a uniquely quantitative approach, and established the great importance of water as a threat to heritage, despite temperature being so often identified as the key aspect of climate change. The threat from water is revealed as intense rain, flood, or storm surges. Increased rainfall can overload roofing and gutters, penetrate traditional materials (e.g. thatch, cob, wattle-and-daub, etc) or deliver pollutants to building surfaces, while flooding brings catastrophic loss. In a more subtle, yet more pervasive way, changes in humidity affects the growth of microorganisms on stone and wood, and the formation of salts that degrade surfaces and influence corrosion. Despite the intense periodic nature of future rainfall, drier summers overall will increase salt weathering of stone, and desiccate the soils that protect archaeological remains and support the foundations of buildings. Future research work required in the area of climate change and cultural heritage is clustered under 5 themes, namely: 1. understanding the vulnerability of materials to climate, to reliably assessed future impact 2. monitoring change, especially on decadal and even century-long time scales 3. modeling and projecting changes in heritage climate at high spatial and temporal resolution, with a estimate of reliability 4. developing tools to manage cultural heritage in a changing climate 5. preventing damage by developing long term strategies.