Google, World Heritage, and the Issue of Climate Change
For some time now, it has been clear that the effects of human-induced climate change have inflicted damage upon both natural and cultural World Heritage sites. To help raise awareness of this issue, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) has partnered with Google and 3D surveying firm CyArk to compile a web-database of five UNESCO World Heritage sites affected by climate change. This database is in the form of a portal called Heritage on the Edge. It features the stone sculptures of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh, the ancient Bangladesh mosques of Bagerhat, the Tanzanian port city of Kilwa Kisiwani, and the adobe structures of Chan Chan, Peru. The project details each site’s story with photographs, 3-D models, and interviews with experts and residents.
Climate change impacts at these five locations include erosion caused by crashing waves and buffeting wind to rising seas that threaten the integrity of cliffs, ocean acidification, and torrential rain. Two particularly dire examples are happening at the Bagerhat mosques in Bangladesh and the Moai sculptures on Rapa Nui. Saltwater flooding and rising sea levels are significantly impacting the Bagerhat mosques. Rising water and wave crashing are also undercutting the Rapa Nui cliffs. The Moai sculpture will topple into the ocean if this erosion continues. World Heritage site located along coastal regions are under threat of being submerged; therefore, time is running out. Quick action is required to preserve these world places of heritage.
In addition to raising awareness, the project has conducted over a year’s worth of field visits, with data that can be translated into 2D maps and high-resolution 3D models, 25 of which are accessible on the Google Arts & Culture platform. Google’s mobile app also features two “pocket galleries,” inviting users to explore Bagerhat’s mosque and a former Portuguese fort on Kilwa Kisiwani island through augmented reality. Chance Coughenour states that these technologies provide “a blueprint for the sites that can be used to inform climate adaptation in the long term.” The project also includes workshops to train local heritage managers to apply the imaging tools to their regular monitoring and maintenance activities. The raw data sets are also freely available to download for educational and other non-commercial uses so that anyone concerned about climate change can take advantage of their information. As there are thousands of sites around the world that are being impacted by climate change, Coughenour hopes the Google Arts & Culture project will eventually expand beyond the current network of five monuments to encompass more parts of the world.
As a whole, according to the president of ICOMOS, Toshiyuki Kono, the project is a call to action. Furthermore, he adds that the effects of climate change on our cultural heritage reflect more significant impacts on our planet in general, and require a strong, decisive, and meaningful response. Specifically, he refers to the fact that while actions at individual sites can prevent loss locally, the only sustainable solution is systemic change and the global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
References
www.newsweek.com/google-tool-climate-change-world-heritagesites-1485107
