Academy shielding Delos from climate change
The Academy of Athens on Monday presented an advanced new system for monitoring the impact of climate change on the natural environment and monuments of the sacred site of Delos, listed by UNESCO among the world’s 13 most vulnerable sites to extreme weather phenomena.
Designed by the Academy’s Research Center for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology, the system will collect on-site data that will be fed into a supercomputer which will generate risk-assessment analyses by playing out different scenarios.
According to the head of the Ephorate of Cycladic Antiquities, which has oversight of the sanctuary, Delos is not just extremely vulnerable to the rising sea level, but also to heavy rainfall and Saharan dust.
“It’s an extremely complex case,” noted Dimitris Athanasoulis, pointing to the work already being done by the ephorate and the French Archaeological School to protect the site’s monuments, such as raising the statues onto platforms.
