The collaborative research project DECACLIM [DEcorated CAves under CLIMate changes: Redefining an effective conservation strategy] selected for funding under the 2022 Generic Call for Projects.
The effects of global warming can be felt even in historic cave paintings where rock drawings preserved for thousands of years are being impacted. The conservation of these drawings, which are located at the interface between the rock surface, the atmosphere and a thin film of water that covers them, is the result of a fragile balance, which is undermined by the modification of the aeraulics of the cave generated by the increase in the temperature difference between the surface and the bottom of the cave. The increase in the concentration of CO2 in the air also plays a negative role and contributes to more solid deposits and corrosion on the surface.