Rising seas and intense storms dominate the headlines about climate change, but there is a quieter catastrophe already unfolding: the irreversible loss of cultural heritage. Across the state of Illinois, thousands of ancient Indigenous sites, historic buildings, and landmarks are being slowly erased by extreme weather. These sites are more than remnants of the past — history took place here, and they are the physical evidence of generations of people who shaped the landscape we now call home. They are places where we can see, touch, and reimagine traces of the past. Losing them would disconnect communities from their history and threaten our ability to learn from our shared past.
The Scale of This Threat is Undeniable
Findings from a recent report by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS), the first statewide examination of how climate change impacts cultural heritage, tell the story clearly: climate change is accelerating the destruction of cultural sites across Illinois, and these impacts are likely to be seen across the Midwest.
Increased rainfall is intensifying soil erosion and worsening already damaging floods, putting cultural heritage of all kinds and time periods at risk across the state. More than 80% of documented archaeological sites are at risk of severe erosion. For example, intense rain events are contributing to erosion at Monks Mound at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site — the largest Indigenous earthen mound in North America. Individual historic structures, such as the architecturally significant Farnsworth House along the Fox River outside of Chicago, will also be increasingly costly to maintain due to flood damage and rising insurance premiums. Flooding also threatens historic districts across Illinois, particularly in rural areas where resources to protect them are scarce. Communities that have already devoted significant resources to historic redevelopment and flood mitigation, like Galena, may prove to be less resilient to new flooding hazards.
Illinois may also become a destination for climate migrants as poor air quality, heat stress, wildfire, and rising sea levels decrease the livability of areas that are hit harder by climate disasters. New construction and development are needed to support this influx of population, which is likely to destroy thousands of sites.
Most heritage resources are fragile, and few have any formal protection from climate-related impacts. The irreversible loss of towns, historic farms, earthen mounds, and archaeological features in Illinois is more than a loss to science and history — these tangible links to our past are integral to the identities of Indigenous Illinoisans and the descendants of all those who came to Illinois more recently. These places tell stories of resilience, adaptation, and change that span generations.
The long stories of Illinois' Indigenous peoples are especially compelling in the context of our challenges today. For thousands of years, well before we were measuring atmospheric CO2 and debating global policies, the foragers, hunters, and farmers of this region adapted their communities to droughts, changing temperatures, and rapidly shifting ecosystems. Without action, many of the sites that help us tell those stories will be lost to the effects of climate change before we get a chance to discover and learn from them. We will lose not only knowledge but also the physical connections between who we were and who we are.
While the scale of the challenge is significant, so too is the opportunity to protect what remains. Many of the places threatened by climate change overlap with Illinois' natural and agricultural landscapes, meaning there is an opportunity to align conservation efforts with heritage preservation. By protecting the land, we also protect the history it holds. For example, soil conservation strategies that help farmers reduce erosion could also safeguard archaeological sites that lie in those fields. Flood mitigation projects designed to protect natural habitats could shield historic buildings and ancient mounds. If we prioritize conservation efforts in the right places, we can work toward saving our environment while also saving our past.
Mitigating the effects of climate change on cultural heritage sites will involve hard choices about what to save and how to save it
We stand to lose something precious, and if we want to protect it, we need to make choices now that will safeguard our heritage for generations to come. We have the chance to document and preserve these sites and structures before it's too late. Collaboration between archaeologists, historians, descendant communities, local towns and cities, and landowners can make a real difference in preserving both the land of Illinois and the rich history it holds. Illinois and its cultural heritage should also be part of broader initiatives to protect archaeology in the United States from climate change, including NAHAR (North American Heritage at Risk), the Society for Historic Archaeology's HARC (Heritage at Risk Committee), and the Society for American Archaeology's (SAA) push to enlist a broad range of partners in protecting cultural heritage. We're not just fighting to save the past; we're building a future that honors where we've been and what we've learned.