Climate Change
Our changing climate and its effect on our environment is the major challenge that we face today, as a society and as individuals. As a discipline, archaeology can contribute unique insights into the national debate and place the changes happening now into the long story of how humans have adapted to their changing climate over the millennia. There is a big part for archaeology to play, too, in helping people to understand the effects on the historic environment and to take an active role in protecting sites and buildings that may be at risk.
In terms of actual effects on archaeology and the historic environment, climate change will have:
- direct impacts – from rising sea levels and coastal erosion; more frequent storms and heavy rainfall episodes; flooding, landslips and erosion; changing seasonal patterns; drought and drying out of wetlands and archaeological sites.
- indirect impacts – from the adaptation and mitigation measures that society introduces to deal with the effects of change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These include, for example, renewable energy development, energy efficiency measures, flood and coastal defences.
English Heritage and Historic Scotland provide webpages on climate change, its effect on the historic environment, and on adaptation and current research.
English Heritage’s website Climate Change & your home is designed to help you understand more about the potential impacts of climate change and ways to save energy if you own or manage an older home.
Climate change in our world is a collaboration between Google, UK government, the Met Office Hadley Centre and the British Antarctic Survey. It shows ‘how climate change could affect the planet and its people over the next century, along with viewing the loss of Antarctic ice shelves over the last 50 years’.
CABE published the 3rd edition of Green day: a climate change activity kit for schools (2010, PDF 285KB) advising on ways for schools to discuss climate change, sustainability and the built environment.
Window Watch - Help Combat Climate Change
Window Watch is the CBA’s ongoing project to raise awareness of the importance of historic windows around Britain and of how proper care of them can help to reduce our carbon footprint.
It was launched as part of Climate Week 2011 and now has a dedicated page that makes the case for the preservation of historic windows and offers ideas for making them energy efficient.
Window Watch was created by Sophie Smith (University of York Heritage Management MA course) as part of her work placement with the CBA
The CBA has had an active environmental policy (PDF | 77 KB) since 2005. We continue to make changes to the way we work and our office accommodation to improve our energy efficiency and minimise our impact on the environment. We encourage all our members to do the same.
