A famous ancient Greek site could soon be submerged.
Scientists warn that increasing sea levels might destroy Delos, an ancient temple site, within decades.
Researchers say a UNESCO site, Delos (near Mykonos), could vanish. It was the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, and the 2,000-year-old structures reveal Hellenistic and Roman life.
In the 1st century B.C., it was a prominent religious center and harbor. Doric temples, marketplaces, an amphitheater, mosaic homes, and the Terrace of the Lions are among the island’s remains. The site’s sculptures are at the Archaeological Museum.
Delos thrived for 700 years until Mithridates VI, the Syrian ruler of Pontus, destroyed it in 88 BC, and pirates ravaged it.
Aristotelio University in Thessaloniki claimed last year that increasing global temperatures and excessive humidity influenced the chemical composition of specific materials used in historical landmarks.
Veronique Chankowski, Dean of the French School of Athens, claimed that Delos would vanish in fifty years.
Some portions of the island have seen a 66-foot increase in sea level in 10 years. Increasing sea levels harm the land as well as buildings as do temperatures.
If this archaeological site were to be destroyed, more than just history would be lost. It would also be the end of many of the island’s native flora and fauna.
Some of the walls on Delos’ buildings have been held up by wooden support beams, according to Chankowski, who said that the problem would need a response from many organizations.
The same thing that’s threatening Delos might end up affecting other islands off the coast of Panama, including Gardi Sugdub and the people who live there.
Roughly 300 households are preparing for a major shift on a little island off the coast of Panama in the Caribbean. Generations of people who have spent their lives on Gardi Sugdub are devoted to the water, and tourists will exchange that soon for the stable ground of the mainland.
