Roger MARJAVAARA, Department of geography, Umeå University, Sweden
Carola WINGREN, Department of geography, Umeå University, Sweden
The conviction that deceased individuals should “rest in peace” is widespread and well established in many cultures (Hockey et al., 2010). Therefore, the burial legislation in countries like Sweden stipulates that once buried remains should not be moved, if it is not due to special circumstances. But the common collective agreement and this legislation are increasingly being challenged by environmental and societal changes (Marjavaara, 2017; Sjöholm, 2016). Exploitation, like densification or mining, as well as climate change resulting in problems with flooding and erosion, leads to the need of re-locating cemeteries and human remains (Schexnayder and Manhein, 2017), which is in conflict with the view that the deceased should “rest in peace” (Marjavaara, 2013). This study assess the impact and magnitude of problems associated with climate change (flooding, erosion, landslides and sea-level rise) on cemeteries in Sweden. This is done using quantitative data and scenario-building using GIS to predict how severe the situation is expected to be by the end of this century. Further, a prediction of the expected number of deceased individuals effected and, in the end, number of survivors for the different scenarios are conducted. Results show that climate-related change will have a widespread effect on current cemeteries in Sweden, with a need to close or relocate some of the most severely affected.
Mots clés : Climate change|Cemeteries|Relocation|Planning|Mobility
A104357RM