Smoke on the Water: Addressing the Burning Issue of Threats Climate Change Poses for Submerged Historical Sites in Florida

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Accelerating Environmental Change Threats to Cultural Heritage: Serious Challenges, Promising Responses" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Underwater archaeological sites are often omitted from sea level rise and resiliency discussions, but these resources, which attract tourists and provide critical information about the past, are at risk. Lack of personnel, difficulty with routinely accessing sites coupled with the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality make submerged historical sites vulnerable. Increasing ocean temperatures result in increased storm activity, while ocean acidification impacts the delicate equilibrium of a submerged site. Documenting these changes and related impacts can help archaeologists understand how these factors impact site integrity over the long term. The Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) partnered with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) to create a submerged historical resource monitoring program as part of the successful Heritage Monitoring Scouts (HMS) Florida initiative, launched by FPAN in 2016. Heritage Monitoring Scouts encourage the community, dive shops, and visitors to embrace submerged historical resources and learn how they can effectively identify changes and threats while routinely monitoring sites. Discussion includes the launch of the Submerged HMS Florida program, shipwreck trails, potential for HMS and similar programs addressing climate change and submerged resources to provide valuable data before it goes up in smoke.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Accelerating Environmental Change Threats to Cultural Heritage: Serious Challenges, Promising Responses   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24813