Micro-Climate Blog: International Connection Announcement and Opportunity!

Map of Lower Manhatten from 1755.

By Marcy Rockman, Lifting Rocks Climate and Heritage Consulting, for the SHA Climate Heritage Initiative

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is now taking nominations for authors for its upcoming special report on Climate Change and Cities (SR Cities). Nominations are made through national IPCC focal points; in the US, the IPCC focal point is the Dept. of State in collaboration with the US Global Change Research Program. US nominations, and self-nominations are welcome, can be made here: https://contribute.globalchange.gov/. More information and a list of all national focal points around the world are here. Deadline for nominations is September 16, 2024.

The outline for the SR Cities includes several touchpoints for archaeology and heritage. These include but are not limited to:

Chapt. 1 Framing of multi-dimensional urban characteristics, including physical, socioeconomic and environmental features
Chapt. 2 Understanding and learning from the past (global climate, hazards, crises, socioeconomic developments)
Chapt. 3 Local risk assessments using scientific information, Indigenous Knowledge, and local knowledge of impacts, types and scales of adaptation responses
Chapt. 4 Structural inequity, gender, colonialism, and justice

For inspiration, see the July 2024 special issue of Historical Archaeology, Urban Historical Archaeology of and as Dissonance—An Invitation for Collaboration. An example of archaeological concepts incorporated into broad issues of urban sustainability is here. New research on trends in adaptation in coastal cities around the world is here.

Featured Link: https://contribute.globalchange.gov

For a listing of all blog posts in this series, visit our Climate Heritage Initiative page.

Photo credit: Lower Manhattan, 1755, Fig. 1 from Aubey, M., Britt, K.M. & Gold, K. Policing, Power, and Protests: Landscapes of Surveillance in Private and Public Spaces in Lower Manhattan. Hist Arch (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41636-024-00512-9