North countries

There are a number of local factors related to weather and climate that contribute to the degradation of cultural heritage buildings, structures and sites over time. Some of these factors are influenced by climatic changes and others manifest themselves in an acceleration of the rate of degradation. The intention of this paper is to review this situation with special reference to the Nordic countries, where typical trends resulting from climate change are shorter winters and increased precipitation throughout the year. An attempt is made to initially develop a classification of cultural heritage relevant materials and structures that are affected, with a proposed numerical scale for urgency of action. The intention is to provide information on how best to concentrate cultural heritage conservation resources in the future.