STONE MONUMENT ENSEMBLES AND THE CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT—RISK AND VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT BASED ON CLIMATE SCENARIOS (STECCI HORIZON EUROPE PROJECT)
Authors:   University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Department of Geography, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Drešković Nusret , Radulović Snežana ,   University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology and Ecology, Novi Sad, Serbia
Published: October 2024

Climate change, intensified by extreme weather conditions and heightened levels of environmental contaminants, is serving as a significant contributor to the degradation of cultural heritage sites, specifically limestone monuments. This susceptibility is primarily due to the composition of limestone, composed primarily of calcium carbonate, which is notably vulnerable to chemical weathering processes. To safeguard these enduring vestiges of our shared cultural past, it is of paramount importance to devise and implement comprehensive protective measures and policies. Instances of extreme meteorological activities such as heavy precipitation, floods, and landslides, which are on a marked rise due to climatic alterations, pose a significant danger to geoheritage sites, inclusive of stećak tombstones. These climatic aberrations can substantially accelerate the degradation process of such sacral limestone heritages, even leading to a complete loss of their original characteristics or total extinction. Besides, the recent notification by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2018) warns against an impending increase in precipitation extremes and resultant soil saturation due to climate change. Such changes can lead to an upsurge in events like landslides and flooding, which, in turn, can cause erosion or even displacement of these limestone tombstones and other similarly fragile stone structures. This study presents a methodical vulnerability assessment process, aimed at identifying the explicit dangers that varying climatic scenarios pose to a location. This critical risk assessment should holistically integrate threats posed by climate change and other non-climatic perturbations, such as pollution. The process necessitates a comprehensive understanding of each site, taking into consideration multiple factors including geolocation, landscape characteristics, hydrological patterns, exposure to extreme climatic events, susceptibility to erosion or leaching, and pollution impact. Station data, referring to collected meteorological information from weather stations, can provide detailed local insights into climatic patterns such as precipitation, temperature variations, and more, thereby helping evaluate the site-specific climatic threats and their potential impacts. Additionally, the contribution of climate change to biodeterioration is iultifaceted due to its overlap with other forms of decay, complicating the attribution of damage to specific biological or climatic factors. Thus, it is crucial to account for the full extent of damage caused by biodeteriogens, given that such biodeterioration often concurs with and exacerbates other physical and chemical destruction processes. Consequently, the process of monument iodeterioration can be categorized broadly into three principal classes of decay: biophysical, biochemical, and aesthetic deterioration. The paper includes case studies of the sites Kopošići, Križevići, Blidinje Dugo polje, Ravanjska vrata, Radimlja, Mramorje Bajina Bašta, Žugića bare Žabljak, and Velika Cista, all of which exhibit unique patterns of decay due to specific climatic and environmental conditions.