The Hyperlocal Geography of Climate Change Impacts: Long-Term Perspectives on Storm Survivability from the Shetland Islands

abstract:Climate histories are frequently modeled on hemispheric, ocean basin, or continental scales. Human impacts are local, varying significantly over small scales of space and time. Geographical differentiation of impacts between sites separated by a few tens of meters can have significant and enduring consequences. Archaeological, archival, cartographic, and sedimentological evidence, cross-scale analysis of regional climate trends, and simulation mapping of individual weather events offer novel perspectives on survival versus destruction at the hyperlocal scale, with relevance to current debates about climate change impacts. Shetland, north of Scotland, has had continuous human occupations for over six thousand years, where settlement has waxed and waned due to the complex interplay of cultural and environmental factors. Against general trends of both continuity and change, local exceptions stand out that illustrate extreme variability at the local scale. This paper focuses on the township of Broo destroyed by blowing sand in the late seventeenth century. In contrast, adjacent communities survived and flourished. Increased storminess, abundant sediment supply, and vegetation removal precipitated Broo's destruction. Local variations in landscape morphology influenced patterns of wind flow and sand deposition during storm events, creating localized effects that heavily impacted Broo. Reconstruction of Broo's historical borders, and analysis of place-names, farm locations, and archival records show that some inhabitants of the township adapted to the environmental challenges, relocated, and remained on the land. This pattern of resilience in the face of environmental change is visible in other locations in the region.