Climate Change Puts U.S. Cultural Landmarks At Risk

The United States’ most treasured cultural landmarks are under threat from the urgent and escalating climate crisis. Recent research from Climate X, a leading climate risk data analytics company, has identified three of the nation’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites—Olympic National Park, Everglades National Park, and Chaco Culture National Historical Park—as particularly vulnerable to climate-related hazards.

Climate X studied the potential impact of climate change on 500 UNESCO World Heritage Sites around the planet. Their analysis assesses physical hazards such as flooding, coastal erosion, landslides, and extreme weather events. In the U.S., ClimateX found three sites at high risk of unrecoverable impacts by 2050 under the worst-case projection of continued high greenhouse gas emissions.

ClimateX’s Spectra platform, which insurers and governments use, projects climate risks across a 100-year time horizon. By offering precise, location-specific data on 16 different types of climate hazards, Spectra enables informed decisions to protect historical sites and modern infrastructure.

Olympic National Park, Washington

The pristine temperate rainforest, known for its rugged coastlines and mountainous forests, faces significant threats from river floods, surface floods, and landslides. Additionally, warmer summers threaten plants and animals acclimated to Olympic National Park’s previously damp climates could be lost because they have no option to migrate north. The park’s natural beauty and biodiversity, including several species found nowhere else on Earth, are at severe risk.

Everglades National Park, Florida

The unique wetland ecosystem of the Everglades is highly vulnerable to coastal floods from rising seas, more frequent hurricanes, extreme heat, drought, and storm surges. These climate events could severely disrupt the delicate balance of this habitat, which is crucial for numerous endangered species.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico

Home to the remnants of a sophisticated ancient civilization, Chaco Culture National Historical Park faces medium to high risks from various climate hazards. Once the center of the Chacoan civilization that flourished between AD 900 and 1150, the park is known for its sophisticated architecture, intricate road systems, and ceremonial complexes. The park contains well-preserved ruins of massive stone buildings, known as great houses, which provide insight into the ancient Puebloans’ social, economic, and cultural practices.

Chaco Culture is also renowned for its astronomical alignments, with structures oriented to solar and lunar cycles, offering valuable information on the astronomical knowledge and practices of the Chacoans. The site remains a focal point for anthropology, archaeology, and archaeoastronomy research. Extreme heat and rainfall accompanied by flash flooding could further erode the ancient structures and disrupt research.

Your Choices Make An Impact

ClimateX’s findings are a call to action to preserve cultural treasures and a reminder of climate change’s broader societal and economic impacts. “The potential impact of climate change on these sites is profound,” said Lukky Ahmed, CEO and co-founder of Climate X. “But it’s not just our past heritage that’s at risk – it’s our present, too.”

The climate crisis is the result of countless individual decisions made over generations. Each choice, from how we power our homes to how we travel and consume resources, has contributed to the rising greenhouse gas emissions that threaten our planet’s cultural and natural heritage.

The path out of this ecological disaster is not one that any of us can walk alone. It begins with each of us, but it also requires a collective effort. We can shift the climate’s future trajectory by consciously reducing our carbon emissions, embracing sustainable practices, and curbing wasteful habits. By doing so, we can preserve the world’s most cherished sites and ensure a livable planet for future generations.