Climate change is written all over

mummies' faces
By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on 03.18.15
Word Count 966

A Chinchorro mummy at San Miguel de Azapa Museum in Arica, Chile. Arica is often referred to as the
driest place on Earth, but locals say that the climate is changing, which could be affecting the mummies
there. Photo: Courtesy of Vivien Standen

About 7,000 years ago or more, a group of people called the Chinchorro lived
along the coasts of northern Chile and southern Peru. Their lives revolved
around shing from the rich Pacic waters. Yet, lying just behind them farther
inland was a uniquely dry, arid desert the Atacama.
The Chinchorro were unique in many ways, but perhaps most of all in their burial
practices. They created the oldest known mummies on Earth, beating the
Egyptians by several thousand years. The Chinchorro's mummies were rst
discovered in the Atacama desert in 1917.
Compared with the Egyptians, the Chinchorro mummied their dead in a truly
equal fashion. "Whereas the Egyptians considered only kings and other exalted
citizens worthy of mummication, the Chinchorro accorded everyone in the
community, regardless of age or status, this sacred rite," wrote Bernardo Arriaza,
an expert on the mummies.

Mummies Are Aging

Since then, hundreds of mummies have been unearthed, with more still in the
ground being uncovered regularly. But lately, a problem has arisen. The
specimens more than 100 are held at a museum of the Universidad de
Tarapac in Arica, Chile have started to degrade. "The tissue change is
reected in the appearance of dark and bright spots," Marcela Sepulveda, an
archaeologist at the Universidad de Tarapac, explained in an email.
Indoors, the change has been slow, but outdoors, mummies are being
discovered already damaged, Sepulveda said. "When you excavate mummies
you can see that degradation is already there," she said. And the suspected
reason? A changing climate.
The Earth is slowly getting warmer and storm and weather patterns are
changing. Scientists blame some of these changes on humans burning fossil
fuels like oil, gas and coal.

Deterioration In The Last Decade

Arica is often referred to as the driest place on Earth but locals say that is
changing. According to Sepulveda, the city has seen increases in rain and
humidity lately. "Everybody say(s) that here," she said. Indeed, weather historian
Christopher Burt wrote about Arica in 2013, noting that despite its famous
reputation for dryness, weather records from 1971 to 2000 suggest it has been
somewhat wetter than usual.
This may not be a change that can be denitively blamed on global climate
change caused by humans, cautioned Ralph Mitchell, a Harvard University
microbiologist. But it is a change nonetheless. "Our colleagues in northern Chile
say it's terribly obvious that the place is foggy a lot more than it ever was,"
Mitchell said. He teamed up with the Chilean researchers to gure out what was
ailing the mummies.
Mitchell noted that many of the mummies found in the 1980s had no problems
until 10 years ago, "when they started to deteriorate." That alone suggests
climate may be a factor in what's happening.

Other Relics Are Also Vulnerable

So Mitchell and two Harvard colleagues collaborated with Sepulveda and one of
her colleagues to try to gure out what was going on. They aimed to nd out if
climate change was in fact the reason for mummy decay. If so, they wanted to
determine what it would mean for better preserving these unique, ancient
objects. Their theory was that more airborne moisture had enabled bacteria to
start to chow down on the centuries-old relics.

They studied samples of mummy skin and dried pig skin in various conditions.
They examined which microbes were living on and in the skin. The result,
Mitchell said, was the nding that bacteria were taking advantage of a more
humid environment to "use the skin as a nutrient and start to break it down."
These were common skin bacteria, among others, which had been enabled by
a particular set of environmental conditions.
The decaying of the Chinchorro mummies illustrates just how vulnerable many
irreplaceable cultural artifacts and World Heritage sites may be to a changing
climate human-caused or not. It's something that the United Nations (U.N.)
has thought about for some time. Its department UNESCO names certain places
as World Heritage sites because of their importance to nature or culture. A 2007
report from the U.N. agency said that "the impacts of climate change are
affecting many World Heritage properties and are likely to affect many more,
both natural and cultural, in the years ahead."

Whether Frozen Or Desert, Change Is Coming

The U.S. Agency for International Development is also concerned about how
climate change might affect World Heritage sites, and it highlights an example
that on a physical level sounds similar to what appears to be happening in
Arica. "Buildings in the rare medieval city of Leh in Ladakh, India, were
constructed in a high altitude desert environment and are ill suited to current
increases in precipitation," it noted.
Several years ago, Archaeology magazine listed yet another related example. It
said that the frozen burial mounds of Scythian warlords (called "kurgans"),
preserved in permafrost near Siberia, can be destabilized by Arctic thawing. In
this case, it was ice, rather than desert, that had preserved remains intact for a
magnicently long time. A change in climate can once again mean an
irreplaceable loss of artifacts and ruins as the ice preserving them melts.
Harvard's Mitchell, meanwhile, said he suspects another possible climate
heritage victim: outdoor marble statues. "Historic marbles in the outdoor
environment are at risk from climate change," he said.

Now, The Consequences

So while we may not know exactly what is happening in Arica, Chile or
whether it should be attributed to human-caused global warming the fact is
that damage to historical artifacts and World Heritage sites is an expected
consequence of climate change in general. And how could it be otherwise?
Many of these sites have been remarkably preserved precisely because of the
fact that they have been climatically unperturbed.
Alter that, and, along with many other consequences, the world could lose some
of its history.

Quiz
1

Which BEST explains the relationship between World Heritage sites and the central
idea of the article?
(A)

World Heritage sites are named by a United Nations department.

(B)

Climate change is affecting many World Heritage sites.

(C)

World Heritage sites can be found in places like India and Siberia.

(D)

There are many mummies to be found in various World Heritage

sites.

Which paragraph from the article BEST summarizes the article?

Read the sentence from the section "Deterioration in the Last Decade."

Mitchell noted that many of the mummies found in the 1980s

had no problems until 10 years ago, "when they started to
deteriorate."
What does the word "deteriorate" mean in the sentence?

(A)

vanish over time

(B)

worsen over time

(C)

become drier

(D)

change in number

Read the sentence from the section "Other Relics Are Also Vulnerable."

Their theory was that more airborne moisture had enabled

bacteria to start to chow down on the centuries-old relics.
Which is the MOST likely reason the author chose to use the phrase "chow down" in
the sentence?
(A)

to convey how quickly the bacteria damage the mummies

(B)

to show that bacteria are able to eat just like other creatures

(C)

to suggest that bacteria can be helpful in the preservation of

mummies

(D)

to illustrate how bacteria get nutrients from the mummies

Answer Key
1

Which BEST explains the relationship between World Heritage sites and the central
idea of the article?
(A)

World Heritage sites are named by a United Nations department.

(B)

Climate change is affecting many World Heritage sites.

(C)

World Heritage sites can be found in places like India and Siberia.

(D)

There are many mummies to be found in various World Heritage

sites.

Which paragraph from the article BEST summarizes the article?

Paragraph 15:
So while we may not know exactly what is happening in Arica, Chile
or whether it should be attributed to human-caused global warming
the fact is that damage to historical artifacts and World Heritage sites
is an expected consequence of climate change in general. And how
could it be otherwise? Many of these sites have been remarkably
preserved precisely because of the fact that they have been
climatically unperturbed.

Read the sentence from the section "Deterioration in the Last Decade."

Mitchell noted that many of the mummies found in the 1980s

had no problems until 10 years ago, "when they started to
deteriorate."
What does the word "deteriorate" mean in the sentence?
(A)

vanish over time

(B)

worsen over time

(C)

become drier

(D)

change in number

Read the sentence from the section "Other Relics Are Also Vulnerable."

Their theory was that more airborne moisture had enabled

bacteria to start to chow down on the centuries-old relics.
Which is the MOST likely reason the author chose to use the phrase "chow down" in
the sentence?
(A)

to convey how quickly the bacteria damage the mummies

(B)

to show that bacteria are able to eat just like other creatures

(C)

to suggest that bacteria can be helpful in the preservation of

mummies

(D)

to illustrate how bacteria get nutrients from the mummies