Global warming is destroying pre-historic rock art, say experts

Rock art and cave paintings don't only tell stories about human history but also shed light on human perception as changes in nature and way of living transformed pre-historic hunter-gatherer humans into civilisation we see today. Rock art around the world has survived for thousands of years and has helped experts glean into the past. But some man-made modern-day changes pose a danger to this treasure which may be lost in a matter of years.

Global warming is not only posing threat to the present and future of human society but also damaging historical records stored in the form of rock art.

One of the effects of global warming is that it increases intensity of weather phenomena like cyclones. As these cyclones ravage the land, they also damage the rock art.

A Flinders University symposium held on Tuesday in Australia held discussions on this issue. The symposium was held in reaction to the sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. The report has warned of 'likely' rise in global temperature of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. This is likely to bring in more extreme weather events.

Experts discussed effect of Cyclone Monica which had hit Australia in 2006. This was one of Australia's most severe tropical storms. The storm smashed through Arnhem Land in 2006

Intensity of the storm was such that it blew down half the trees in a 50 km wide swathe of land. It destroyed some rock art sites. Fires that raged after this damaged the sites more.