Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Resources Threatened by Climate Change
Original version
10.3390/books978-3-03921-125-8Abstract
This book presents a print version of the Special Issue of the journal Geosciences dedicated to the “Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Resources Threatened by Climate Change.” With a wide spectrum of data, case studies, monitoring, experimental and numerical simulation techniques, the overall goal of this Special Issue was to provide the most current state-of-the-art research on the recognition, analysis, and management of natural and human-induced climate change impact on cultural heritage. In the 10 papers collected in this volume, readers will recognize the importance of a multidisciplinary approach (for example, involving materials, environmental and computer science knowledge) in identifying predominant risks for cultural heritage preservation in the time of climate change. Among the articles published in the Special Issue, three research studies are based on the exploitation of a broad range of data derived from preventive conservation monitoring. Two are further focused on climate data and numerical modeling data for assessing environmental impact and climate change effects. Four papers are focused on a well-assorted sample of decay phenomena occurring on heritage materials, e.g. surface recession and biomass accumulation on limestone, depositions of pollutant on marble, salt weathering on inorganic building materials, and the weathering process on mortars. Finally, the remaining paper is devoted to examining the perceptions of experts involved in the management of cultural heritage on adaptation to climate change risks. Thirty-five authors from three different continents (Central America, Europe, and Oceania) contributed to the Special Issue, showing results from local to regional-scale study areas in the Scandinavian Peninsula, United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Italy, Greece and Panama, wide enough to attract the interest of an international audience of readers. The articles collected here will hopefully provide different, useful insights into advancements in emerging technologies for the monitoring and the future forecasts of key degradation phenomena in both organic (e.g., wood) and inorganic (e.g., marble, cement mortar) heritage material. Finally, these research studies confidently highlight new ideas, approaches, and innovations in the analysis of various types of decays (e.g., surface recession, biomass accumulation, salts weathering) in a number of sensitive environments (e.g., indoor museum environments, urban, coastal, and rural).