One of the less-commonly talked of effects of climate change is the risk to humanity’s cultural heritage, with rising sea levels likely to cause the disappearance of a range of important archaeological and historical sites, including UN-listed World Heritage gems, a new study has shown.
Nearly 150 sites in “significant danger”
Even under the best case scenarios, nearly 150 different sites along the eastern Mediterranean coasts of Türkiye and Greece will be at risk, ranging from castles, towers and fortifications to towers, bridges, and burial grounds. The problem is such that sea level rises and inundation have been called “the most significant danger threatening coastal archaeological and historical sites.”
The research, undertaken by geoscientist Enes Zengin from Türkiye’s Dumlupınar University Urban and Regional Planning Department, was first published in 2023 in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. It took US National Ocean Service data from a 2022 Sea Level Rise Technical Report and mapped out likely flooding at five different classes of risk level, from very high to very low.
Damage is already being done
Among the 464 sites looked at, 147 were at some level of risk. For 34 of them, the danger was deemed “very high”, with some archaeological and historical sites set to be inundated even in the lowest sea level rise scenarios. In addition, 19 were classed at “high” risk” and for 27 the risk was “medium”.
Problems are already being seen in certain locations, such as the UNESCO-recognised Greek and Roman religious sanctuaries at Delos near Mykonos, where structural water damage has occurred due to flooding.
Where are the worst threats?
As well as Delos, ancient Greek treasures including cities such as Lokris, Sissi and Pavlopetri are at “very high risk”, the author found.
Meanwhile, some of the worst threats to sites in present-day Türkiye are at the fourth-century BC trading hub of Knidos, and the ninth-century BC city of Kaunos. At the crosswaters of the Aegean and Mediterranean, Knidos possesses one of the country’s best preserved ancient theatres, while Kaunos is known for its “Tomb of the Kings”.
The ancient port of Elaia in Izmir could also be submerged by the end of the century, the report says.
The good news is that 317 sites were deemed safe even if there were a five-metre sea level rise, but the author called for “swift action” and more research into the threat to the sites at most risk, in order to help “safeguard humanity’s shared cultural heritage.”
