Pollution from petrochemical plants is degrading petroglyphs on Australia’s Burrup Peninsula, researchers say.
The Murujuga rock art, the world’s largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs, has survived 40,000 years or so out in the open on a finger of land extending from Australia’s northwestern coast. “Murujuga is the most important rock art site in the world,” says Michel Lorblanchet, an archaeologist at CNRS, the French national research agency, who is noted for his work on European cave art.
If realized, the expanded complex “would be the most polluting project ever to be developed in Australia,” asserts the Conservation Council of Western Australia. The additional emissions could make it difficult for Australia to meet its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, says Bill Hare, a climate scientist with Climate Analytics, a policy institute.
The rock art provides an archaeological record of traditional use of the area over thousands of years. The petroglyphs include some of the world’s earliest known depictions of human faces, complex geometric designs, and images of marine and terrestrial fauna, including extinct animals such as the fat-tailed kangaroo and the thylacine, that illustrate how the ecosystem changed through rising and falling sea levels.
In the 1960s, when officials were looking to build a cargo port on the northwestern coast to ship iron ore from inland mines, they knew little about the Murujuga rock art and did not consult with local First Nations peoples. Antiquities experts recommended the Burrup Peninsula to avoid damaging other known Aboriginal sites. Later, as the significance of the Murujuga rock art was recognized, people realized the port siting was a “terrible mistake,” Smith says.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
Biden Administration Targets Power-Plant Emissions in New Climate InitiativeThe Biden administration proposed new rules to drastically reduce greenhouse gases from coal- and gas-fired power plants
Les mer »
Biden green-lights aggressive power plant emissions restrictions, hamstringing fossil fuel generationThe Biden administration announced an aggressive plan to curb power plant emissions Thursday, but acknowledged the regulations could lead to slightly higher prices.
Les mer »
Biden administration proposes crackdown on power plant carbon emissionsThe Biden administration unveiled a sweeping plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions from the nation's power industry on Thursday, one of the biggest steps so far in its effort to decarbonize the American economy to fight climate change.
Les mer »
EPA to propose major crackdown on coal and gas plant emissionsThe EPA will propose new regulations Thursday designed to cut carbon dioxide from the nation's coal- and natural-gas-fired power plants. The EPA's long-awaited proposals come after SCOTUS put new constraints on the agency's authority.
Les mer »
Biden's EPA proposes crackdown on power plant carbon emissionsThe Biden administration on Thursday unveiled a sweeping plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. power industry, one of the biggest steps so far in its effort to decarbonize the economy to fight climate change.
Les mer »
New EPA Rules Would Slash Power Plant EmissionsThe EPA has announced new draft rules that would require power plants that burn fossil fuels to capture 90 percent of their climate-warming emissions
Les mer »