气候变化威胁自然和文化遗产



      Nairobi, 7 November 2006--Cultural and nature-based heritage sites-- from Charles Darwin’s favourite barrier reef in Belize and South Africa’s famous West Coast National Park to 600 year-old Thai ruins and archaeological sites in Scotland-- are increasingly threatened by climate change.
      Some of these priceless treasures are at risk as a result of impacts like rising sea levels, flooding and storms. Others, including mosques, cathedrals, monuments, and artefacts at ancient sites are threatened by changes in historic and local climatic conditions.
These in turn may lead to subtle but damaging shifts in moisture levels affecting structures directly, or the chemistry and stability of soils in which they are found.
      These are among the findings from a new report, The Atlas of Climate Change: Mapping the World’s Greatest Challenge compiled by researchers with the Stockholm Environment Institute with assistance from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The findings, unveiled today at the 12th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 2nd Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, are based on a welter of new studies by researchers across the globe.
      These include members of the World Heritage Committee linked with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Centre.
      Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, said: “Adaptation to climate change should and must include natural and culturally important sites. New research by UNEP and partners shows that coral reefs in the Indian Ocean, damaged by bleaching events in the late 1990s, are recovering better in Marine Protected Areas whereas those exposed to impacts from costal developments and pollution are faring far worse”.
      “So we must act now to build resilience, so that important ecosystems, like coral reefs, can survive and recover better in the face of the climate change that is already underway. We must also use our intelligence and scientific know-how to assist managers of culturally important sites like buildings and archaeological finds. Losses here as a result of climate change may impact on the livelihoods of local people and, especially in developing countries, add to poverty which is among the most toxic pollutants on the planet,” he added.
      Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, the Director-General of UNESCO, the organization that hosts the World Heritage Centre, said: "Climate changes are impacting on all aspects of the human and natural systems, including both cultural and natural World Heritage properties. Protecting and ensuring the sustainable management of these sites has therefore become an intergovernmental priority of the highest order."
      “Many marine World Heritage sites are tropical coral reefs whose exposure to bleaching events – due to increased ocean temperature and increasing acidification – possibly leading to mass extinction of coral reefs. The increase of atmospheric temperature is also leading to the melting of glaciers worldwide. Terrestrial biodiversity may also be affected by species shifting ranges, changes in the timing of biological cycles, migration of pests and invasive species, among other phenomena," he said.
      Tom Downing, a Director with the Stockholm Environment Institute whose report has been co-authored with Kirstin Dow of the University of South Carolina, said: “Our report do*****ents in simple and easy to digest graphs and maps the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change across a wide range of issues and impacts”.
     “In highlighting today one aspect of the report--the threats to cherished and widely valued cultural and natural heritage sites—we are underlining how all encompassing the threats are and how all embracing and inclusive must be the global response to managing the world’s greatest challenge,” he added.

(引自www.unep.org    2006年11月7日)




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