Effects of climate change on cultural resources [Chapter 12]

Abstract

As with all resources on public lands, cultural resources are subject to environmental forces such as climate change. Climate change can affect cultural resources directly (e.g., heat, precipitation) or indirectly (e.g., vegetation, wildfire, flooding). Cultural resources include archaeological sites, cultural landscapes, ethnohistoric and historic structures and artifacts, and ethnographic resources. As weather patterns become more extreme and more unpredictable, they will introduce new risks to the management of cultural resources. In such circumstances, risk management and adaptation options can be complicated because many resources are unique and have strong ties to a specific location. Cultural resources and cultural landscapes are approached differently from a management perspective compared to other resources because they are nonrenewable - once they are lost, they cannot be restored.

Parent Publication

• Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Intermountain Region [Part 2]

Citation

Flanigan, Tom H.; Thompson, Charmaine; Reed, William G. 2018. Effects of climate change on cultural resources [Chapter 12]. In: Halofsky, Jessica E.; Peterson, David L.; Ho, Joanne J.; Little, Natalie, J.; Joyce, Linda A., eds. Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Intermountain Region [Part 2]. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-375. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 363-375.