The three great Scottish historic sites 'most at risk from climate change'

They give us as hard, physical link to our past - but where will they be in the future?

Three historic sites in Scotland which are regarded as among the most important in the world have been identified as most at risk from climate change.

The Unesco sites of Forth Bridge, New Lanark and St Kilda have been flagged as among those most vulnerable to the impact of intensifying weather patterns and rising water levels.

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The analysis come from Climate X, a climate range data company that has modelled how climate change will affect 500 Unesco sites worldwide. The three Scottish sites sit in the top 50 of those most at risk by 2050.

Others on the list include the Sydney Opera House, the USA’s Olympic National Park, Switzerland’s Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch glacier and Korea’s Sansa Buddhist Mountain Monasteries. While heritage chiefs in Scotland are fully engaged in the climate challenge, which poses major conservation challenges across the country, the new analysis further highlights the “profound” risks facing some of the country’s most-loved historic sites, according to researchers.

Lukky Ahmed, chief executive and co-founder of Climate X, said: “The potential impact of climate change on these sites is profound. But it’s not just our past heritage that’s at risk - it’s our present, too.

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“While the loss of these cultural treasures - many of which have endured for millennia - would of course be devastating, it’s also vital to remember the real societal and economic impact of climate change is happening in the here and now.

“Our findings serve as a stark warning for governments, preservationists, and the global community to prioritise the safeguarding of our planet - to preserve our ancient monuments and our current assets and infrastructure - and to protect life today and into the future.”

The Forth Bridge, which opened in 1890 with the-then world’s longest bridge span, is considered one of the greatest ever cantilever trussed crossings. It received Unesco status in 2015. The new analysis found it was most at risk from severe storms and coastal flooding which could potentially weaken its foundations.

Coastal floods and landslides are also posing a threat to St Kilda, the archipelago around 50 miles west from its nearest neighbour in the Outer Hebrides, which was evacuated of its last permanent residents in 1930.

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The National Trust for Scotland (NTS), which manages St Kilda, recently announced new research from Historic Environment Scotland, which found that rising temperatures, more frequent and severe storms, and changes to ocean currents posed the greatest risks to the archipelago.

NTS said it was already seeing the impact of warmer seas on the food chain that supports the islands' birds, with intensifying weather patterns potentially making it more difficult for volunteers and visitors to the island, where buildings could become harder to maintain.

Work is underway at present to make the church and schoolhouse on Hirta, the main island of St Kilda, more robust against the storms which hit the island around 75 days a year.

New Lanark , the 18th-century mill village that sat at the heart of the industrial revolution and attempts for social reform, is considered to be most at risk from landslides.

The cotton mills and surrounding community were located to take power from the mighty Falls of Clyde. The new analysis suggests that the complex is most at risk from river and surface floods.

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