Extreme weather events, changes in patterns of precipitation, desertification, changes in agricultural yields, destruction of habitat and species extinction, and increase in the range of disease vectors are some of the expected effects of global warming and the climate change it has ushered in. These effects are felt not only by natural ecosystems, but also in the communities in which we live, the places that we cherish and that enrich our lives.



Environmentalists have been at the forefront in raising our collective awareness of the dangers of global warming and advocating for ways in which we can address one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Professionals in the cultural heritage sector are more recent arrivals to the debate on global warming but there is a growing urgency to document the ways climate change affects our historic built environment, and to implement preventive and corrective actions.

On Saturday, November 8, 2008, Frances Anderton, host of KCRW'S DnA: Design and Architecture, moderated a panel of cultural heritage professionals and environmentalists on the ways climate change will impact the historic built environment and how core values of historic preservation—sustainability and reuse of materials—have a significant role to play in addressing this issue.

The event was organized by the Getty Conservation Institute and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

About the Panelists


Frances Anderton, moderator
Frances Anderton is the host of DnA: Design and Architecture, airing monthly on KCRW and KCRW.com. She is also a full-time producer of KCRW's national and local current affairs shows, To The Point and Which Way, LA?, both hosted by Warren Olney. Anderton is the L.A. editor for Dwell Magazine and a regular contributor on design and architecture to The New York Times and many other publications.

Ted Bardacke
Ted Bardacke is the green urbanism senior program associate at Global Green USA, where he provides green building technical assistance to affordable housing developers, municipalities, and construction industry professionals and consults on select building projects pursuing LEED certification. Previously he worked as a correspondent in Bangkok and Mexico City for the Financial Times and as coordinator of volunteer construction projects in rural Mexico for the American Friends Service Committee.

Sheryl Carter
Sheryl Carter is a senior policy analyst and co-director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's western energy programs. She plays a leading role in the NRDC's energy project, which promotes the increased development of energy efficiency, renewables, and other environmentally sound and cost-effective energy resources to reduce the public health, environmental, and global warming impacts of our energy production and use. Prior to her employment at NRDC, Carter worked on energy policy and climate change mitigation at the Center for Energy and Environment.

Patrice Frey
Patrice Frey is the director of sustainability research for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Before joining the National Trust, Frey worked for the City of Goleta, California, coordinating the acquisition and preservation of coastal open space and several community development programs. Her previous work in Washington, D.C., includes time as a staff assistant for two Secretaries of State at the U.S. State Department.

Sarah Staniforth
Sarah Staniforth is the historic properties director at the National Trust in the United Kingdom. She manages the sections that advise properties on archaeology, building conservation, curatorship, conservation of collections, and gardens and parks. Staniforth joined the National Trust in 1985 as Adviser on Paintings Conservation and Environmental Control, and from 2002 to 2004 she was Head Conservator.