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Sustainability Statement on Extreme Heat Waves

By Annabelle Camp posted 09-15-2022 08:13

  

As the Sustainability Committee drafts this dispatch, the UK has recorded its highest ever temperature of 40.2 C (104.4 F) recorded in multiple locations throughout the country. Exacerbating the oppressive heat in the UK and across Europe, widespread fires have broken out, affecting both wild and residential areas. Workers were encouraged to stay home and train and tube service were canceled in many areas. At least 1000 people have died. Earlier this month, Tunis recorded a temperature of 48 C, breaking a 40 year record and causing serious damage to the country's grain crops. In China, roads buckled, tar melted, and tile popped off roofs. Extreme heat waves have a devastating effect on health, infrastructure, economies, and cultural heritage. 


Heat waves are occurring with increasing frequency due to a number of factors including warming global temperatures, faster warming of the Arctic, and changes to ocean currents and jet streams. All of these changes are the result of the human made climate crisis.


The good news is we can help. There are steps we can take in our professional lives that will prevent further negative change and in doing so preserve cultural heritage the world over. The Sustainability Committee encourages everyone to identify their areas of greatest negative impact and work to reduce these. In our profession, this includes reducing in-person courier trips and relaxing strict, energy-intensive environmental parameters. For additional ideas, our committee has created a collection of interviews with experts on topics ranging from zero waste to life cycle analysis to climate activism, which you can find on our Wiki.


While one may argue that change could negatively affect the cultural heritage we are tasked with preserving, sustainable action is cultural heritage preservation. We are minimizing our field's negative effect on the climate and helping to stabilize the earth's climate, thus preventing additional damage to Earth and our cultural heritage. The status quo is no longer an option. In not taking sustainable action, we are directly contributing to the climate crisis and contributing to the destruction of that which we work to preserve.  


We hope you will join us in advocating for more sustainable action within the field, in your place of work, and in cultural institutions throughout the world. The consequences of our actions are not isolated or limited to our places of work or the specific collections we  preserve. By taking action in your workplace, you can help preserve cultural heritage throughout the world.


Is the climate crisis affecting you? We want to hear from you: aicsustainability@gmail.com.  

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