Save our Sites! Using Archaeology to Educate the Public about Climate Change in South Florida.

Summary

Miami is often presented as the poster child of sea level rise; while climate change is generally accepted as an observable fact in south Florida, elsewhere this issue is regarded as too politically charged for frequent discussion. This renders sensitive archaeological sites vulnerable to coastal erosion, storm surge, and other factors. The Florida Public Archaeology Network’s Heritage Monitoring Scouts (HMS) Florida program is designed to raise awareness of how these factors will impact archaeological sites and to engage the public in monitoring these sites, through workshops which include basic climate science, an overview of Florida archaeology, and laws that protect archaeological sites. This citizen science initiative encourages people to actively document the effects of sea level rise, and gives them the tools they need to educate climate skeptics. Additionally, it provides archaeologists with a venue to discuss how early Floridians adapted to rising sea levels. This poster will address the efficacy of this workshop at the frontline of climate change in south Florida.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17686