Climate-driven geohazards are transforming the continental interior of Canada. These transformations are particularly evident in northern and alpine areas where climate-sensitive landscapes are destabilized by increased intensity of permafrost thaw, wildfires, floods and extreme weather events. Many sedimentary archives that contain linked multi-millennial archaeological and paleoenvironmental records are being lost (e.g., ice patches, aeolian deposits, floodplain deposits). These ecocultural records are our main sources of information about past environmental and human responses to shifts in climate. They are foundational input for models that guide climate change mitigation, adaptation and resiliency policy. Loss of these records has a negative impact on our ability to navigate the current climate crisis. However, the character and magnitude of this impact is not well understood because there has been limited study of climate risk to ecocultural archives. This presentation proposes a landscape approach to climate-risk management of ecocultural archives using Rocky Mountain paleosols as a case study.  

Between 2019 and 2022, the archaeology sector in Nova Scotia (including representatives from consulting archaeology, academia, government, community organizations, and Mi’kmaq rights holders) worked together to create a climate adaptation strategy for the sector. Since 2023, the strategy is being implemented through adaptation projects led by a dedicated team of volunteers from the archaeology sector, organized by a coordinator and supported by funding from Nova Scotia’s Climate Change Plan for Clean Growth.

A key component of the strategy implementation is the development of an archaeological site stewardship program. The sector is developing community workshops and a community reporting form, enabling community members to monitor sites, highlight changes and receive responses from team members. The goal is to build stronger relationships between communities and professional archaeologists, so that communities are empowered to make decisions on the future of their cultural heritage. We can find hope in this collaborative action, while also acknowledging to communities that significant barriers to action still exist.

Many studies have documented the threats of environmental changes caused by climate change to terrestrial and shoreline archaeological sites. However, there has been less investigation of the potential impacts of climate change on underwater cultural heritage. Divers from the Shipwreck Preservation Society of Newfoundland & Labrador (SPSNL) returned to the site of a 17^th-century and a 20^th-century shipwreck near Isle aux Morts, Newfoundland, to assess the possible impacts of hurricane Fiona. Hurricane Fiona struck southwest Newfoundland on September 24, 2022 and was the most powerful post-tropical storm ever recorded in Atlantic Canada. Maximum wind speeds were 134 km/hr and waves were 15 m high at nearby Port aux Basques, NL. The 17^th-century Isle aux Morts shipwreck (CjBs-01) is only 10 m deep and is mostly buried in sand. The wreck site was the same as when it was mapped in 1983 and appeared to be undamaged by Fiona. In contrast, the 20^th-century Staalbas shipwreck appeared to have sustained significant damage from Fiona, despite its greater depth of 15 m. Local bathymetry (seabed topography) seems to play an important role in sheltering or exposing shipwrecks to damaging wave action during severe storm events.