Climate Heritage Initiative

Climate Heritage Initiative

Image: View of buildings on the Merrimack River, Lowell, MA, Boott Mill in foreground, 1910 (University of Massachusetts, http://explearth.org/industrial-lowell-massachusetts/)

Introduction

Climate change is an outcome of development of the modern world. As historical archaeology engages with the histories, records, and complexities of this development, SHA has a unique voice that it should use in building recognition of the impacts of climate change on cultural heritage and the development of adaptations and solutions.

With this vision, SHA has launched a year-long climate change initiative, called the Climate Heritage Initiative (CHI), with two overarching goals:

  1. Supporting and growing climate engagement capacity within SHA.
  2. Developing a larger outward-facing voice for SHA on climate change.

For this initiative, SHA is working with climate archaeologist/heritage specialist, Marcy Rockman. Updates and outcomes from this initiative will be shared on this page, in the SHA newsletter, through SHA social media, with SHA committees, and as part of the annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology.

Micro-Climate Blog Series

Short considerations from an archaeologist about life in our climate-changing world

Climate as we most often talk about it now is big. It links land, water, the air, and the capacity of all plants and animals to eat, drink, live, and breathe. Modern anthropogenic climate change – the warming of the atmosphere due to accumulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses – is an outcome of human activities (IPCC), including burning of fossil fuels and changes in land use such as deforestation. Addressing climate change, by slowing and changing the forces creating it and preparing for and responding to its impacts that can no longer be avoided, will affect nearly every human system. These include how we make and use energy, use and move water, produce and eat food, and where it is possible to live.

With such scale and complexity, it is reasonable to ask – where does historical archaeology fit? This blog takes the perspective that our best response will be built by growing connections with climate change across all who do, care about, and work with historical archaeology. Just as our understanding of the past does not come from any one place or type of analysis, this blog will layer small pieces of climate-related stories into a larger whole.

On a weekly basis, Marcy Rockman and guest contributors will share a piece of current climate-related news from the perspective of what the news story says about culture, society, and heritage. Some of the news shared will be good. Themes will be developed as the list of blogs grows.