Abstract
Climate change is a reality. What happens climatically over the upcoming centuries is partially dependent on the comprehensiveness of a global response to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. However, within a century, forecasts predict a one-meter sea level rise that could have grave implications to our society: the loss of an incalculable extent of cultural heritage. This Article examines the threat climate change poses to physical cultural heritage, like archaeological sites and historic structures, and the current framework of law, regulation, and policy in the United States meant to protect these resources. This Article blends research and data from climate scientists and archaeologists analyzing the problem and posing solutions, with a legal analysis of the role United States law could play in an answer. Recognizing how the effects of climate change could vary and how there is no single solution, this article’s overall goal is to stimulate the legal community’s participation in managing our cultural heritage, as it is just one of the many stakeholders in identifying a successful solution.
Recommended Citation
Casey J. Snyder, Law, Cultural Heritage, and Climate Change in the United States, 36 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. 95 (2018)DOI: https://doi.org/10.58948/0738-6206.1824
Available at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pelr/vol36/iss1/3
Included in
Cultural Heritage Law Commons, Energy and Utilities Law Commons, Environmental Law Commons, Natural Resources Law Commons