Global Climate Change

Around the world, climate change and the degradation of Earth’s fragile ecosystems due to human activity are beginning to seriously affect cultural heritage sites. Rising sea levels, mutable rainfall patterns, increases in storm severity, and drought have had a impact.

Places on the 2008 World Monuments Watch give dramatic evidence of these consequences: among those at high risk of being lost to the effects of global climate change are Herschel Island, Canada; Scott’s Hut and the Explorer’s Heritage, Antarctica; Sonargaon-Panam City, Bangladesh; Leh Old Town, India; Kilwa Historic Sites, Tanzania; and Chinguetti Mosque, Mauritania.

WMF is dedicated not only to protecting historic sites, but also to using traditional methods suited to the local environment, strengthening community participation in protecting cultural resources, encouraging green building materials, and promoting sustainable tourism.

As WMF learns more about the increasing number of heritage sites threatened by the effects of global climate change, we are examining ways in which we can help. It is imperative that the field of cultural historic preservation issue a call to action, and that we work more closely with the environmental conservation movement. We share a common mission and we need to develop strategies to preserve and protect our natural and cultural resources for future generations to enjoy.

If you would like to support our programs, you may give online or call our development staff at (646) 424-9594.