Climate change is affecting developments from rising seas to shifting wind patterns. But it’s also having an impact in some unexpected places—including on ancient cave paintings in Southeast Asia.
The world’s oldest known cave painting of an animal is the latest victim of climate change. That’s the view of a team of researchers working in Indonesia.
The story begins deep in the steamy dampness of Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island where even the dry season drips with humidity.
Deep in a tropical valley, tucked into a remote cave is a life-size painting of a Sulawesi Warty Pig—which scientists estimate was created nearly 46,000 years ago.
But today, the pig’s in trouble.
Writing in the professional journal Scientific Reports, the team found rising temperatures are having an impact—along with extreme weather patterns—heavier monsoons and consecutive dry days are speeding the build-up of salt on the cave walls.
The salts grow and decline along with shifting conditions, and those expanding and shrinking salt crystals are making parts of the walls flake off---along with the ancient mulberry-based paint adorning the walls.
The lead scientist on the project is urging an increase in conservation efforts to preserve the art—saying she was “gobsmacked” to see how these pieces of art are “disappearing before our eyes.”
