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The possible ways to mitigate the risk include the coastal armourre and the construction of breeze to move the monuments.
The Journal of Cultural Heritage has published a new study indicating that the increase in sea level could push powerful seasonal waves in the 15 emblematic Moai statues of Easter Island, in the last potential danger to the cultural heritage of climate change.
“The elevation of sea level is real,” said Noah Paoa, principal author of the study published on Wednesday and doctorate at the University of Hawaii at the Manoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. “It is not a distant threat.”
About 50 other cultural sites in the region are also threatened by floods.
Paoa, which is of Easter Island – a Chilean territory and the volcanic island in Polynesia known to its Aboriginal peoples under the name of Rapa Nui – and its colleagues have built a high -resolution “digital twin” of the island’s oriental coastal models and directed computer models to simulate the future impacts of the waves under various scenarios. The results with cultural sites cards to identify the places that could be flooded in the coming decades.
The results show that the waves could reach Ahu Tongariki, the largest ceremonial platform on the island, from 2080. The site, which houses the imposing 15 Moai, attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year and is the cornerstone of the island’s tourist economy.
Beyond its economic value, Ahu is deeply woven in the cultural identity of Rapa Nui. It is in the Rapa Nui National Park, which includes a large part of the island and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The 900 Moai statues across the island were built by the people Rapa Nui between the 10th and 16th centuries to honor the ancestors and the important chiefs.
The threat is not unprecedented. In 1960, the largest earthquake never recorded – a magnitude of 9.5 off Chile – sent a tsunami that crossed the Pacific. He struck Rapa Nui and swept the Moai already toppled more inside the land, which damaged some of their characteristics. The monument was restored in the 1990s.
While the study focuses on Rapa Nui, its conclusions echo a broader reality: the cultural heritage sites in the world are increasingly endangered by the rise of the seas. A UNESCO report published last month revealed that around 50 World Heritage sites are very exposed to coastal floods.
A UNESCO spokesperson told the Associated Press news agency that climate change is the biggest threat to UNESCO World Heritage Marine Sites. “In the Mediterranean and Africa, almost three -quarters of the lower coastal sites are now exposed to erosion and floods due to the accelerated elevation of sea level.”
The possible defenses for Ahu Tongariki range from the Armourre of the coast and the construction of breeze to the displacement of the monuments.
Paoa hopes that the results will bring these conversations now, rather than after irreversible damage. “It is best to look to the future and be proactive instead of reagent to potential threats.”
