Many world heritage sites are threatened

The warming of the earth caused many pyramids to be buried under sand, mummies in decomposed ice and collapsed temples.

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The pyramids in Meroe, Sudan are subsiding to the sand by climate change. (Photo: abc.net.au).

Henri-Paul Francfort , a scientist working at the French National Institute of Scientific Research (CNRS), told AFP that, because the average temperature of the earth gradually increases, the world's ice blocks melt, expansion, sea level rise and the strength of storms also increase. For example, the melting of the permafrost is threatening ancient mummies in the Altai Mountains, Siberia, Russia.

Scientists warn that sea ​​level rise will erase a series of archaeological sites along the coast , in which the Pacific islands face the greatest risk. In Tanzania, coastal erosion erodes a wall of Kilwa fortress - a Portuguese colonial building built on the coast of an island in 1505.

In Bangladesh, the city of Panam, the capital of the kingdom of Bengal from the 15th to the 19th century, suffered from frequent floods. UNESCO put Panam on the list of 100 properties threatened by climate change.

Tabasqueno temple in Mexico. (Photo: megalithic.co.uk).

Dominique Michelet, another CNRS scientist, said that an increase in unexpected weather events - like storms - is also a threat to heritage. According to him, the Chan Chan city in Peru, being destroyed by floods. Chan Chan used to be the capital of the ancient Chimu empire.

Similarly, Tabasqueno temple in Mexico - a famous legacy left over from Mayan civilization - was seriously destroyed by two storms in 1995.

' Archaeologists have tried to reinforce the temple, but since the water is too large, it collapses inside ,' Michelet said.

Sand is one of the most feared enemies of archaeological sites in the context of the increasing power of storms. For example, in Sudan, sand dunes engulf the pyramids of Meroe city - the capital of a powerful kingdom from the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD. In Oman, two super typhoon Gonu (2007) and Phet (2009) completely buried archaeological sites dating from the 5th and 6th millennium BC under the sand.

Michelet warns that it is necessary for UNESCO to identify legacies that are at risk of disappearance due to climate change.

' Archeology is part of human memory. Therefore, human beings need to implement radical solutions to protect the heritage from the effects of climate change , 'Francfort said.