McGrath, M. (2023, January 10). Climate Change: Europe and Polar Regions Bear Brunt of Warming in 2022. BBC News, BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64213575.
The article describes how the world experienced its warmest year so far in 2022. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service collected data and states that the year beat the previous warmest year in 2016 by a significant margin, and impacted most of the European nations such as Spain, France, Italy, and the UK. This is extremely dangerous because the data suggests that the temperatures are almost exceeding the 1.5 C threshold, promised at the Paris climate agreement. Countries such as France, Germany, Spain and Slovenia have also been impacted as they are experiencing their highest amount of wildfires which occurred during the past summer. The increase in global temperature is a result of human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
It is no shock that the world is finally experiencing physical evidence of global warming with Europe being hit especially hard due to having the greatest surface air temperatures. This is not only affecting the quality of life and the danger to our planet’s future, but also the history of mankind. Europe is known to hold some of the most prized artworks and architecture such as the Colosseum. I fear that the heat may damage artworks because of the thermal tensions, moisture reductions, and chemical reactions that occur when exposed to heat. Although this may be minor in the grand scheme of global warming, it just comes to show how the impacts of global warming affect all aspects of humanity’s future.
I really like that you pointed out how global warming isn’t just going to affect us, but it will affect art. I haven’t ever seen this viewpoint before since global warming has always been a warning to human lives. One of the many things we cherish as human beings are historic landmarks, paintings, etc. If the planet continues to get warmer, what do you think is a way we can preserve these vital pieces?
I think that one way we can preserve historic architecture is by closing the majority of it off to tourists to prevent further erosion. Other artworks could be preserved by moving them indoors to air-conditioned facilities.