Rapid Fire
Impact of Rising Sea Level on Delos Island
- 19 Jun 2024
- 2 min read
Scientists caution that climate change-induced rising sea levels could cause Delos, a tiny Aegean Sea island near bustling Mykonos, to vanish within the next 50 years.
- Delos is described as one of the most important sanctuaries of the ancient Greek and Roman world.
- It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and provides valuable insights into daily life during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
- Research indicates that increasing temperatures and humidity can alter the chemical composition of materials used in cultural heritage monuments.
- The threat is exacerbated by visible structural damage caused by seawater erosion, particularly affecting areas like trade and storage buildings from the first and second centuries BCE.
- The Aegean Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea.
- It is located in the East Mediterranean Basin with the Greek peninsula to its west and Anatolia (consisting of the Asian side of Turkey) to its east.
- The Aegean is connected through the straits of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosphorus to the Black Sea, while the island of Crete can be taken as marking its boundary on the south.
Read more: Aegean Sea
