Beijing, where the Palace Museum is located, has a temperate continental monsoon climate with distinct changes in the four seasons. It is dry and cold in the winter, hot and humid in the summer, and with moderate temperatures in the spring and autumn. Beijing’s temperature and precipitation vary greatly from season to season. Temperatures in the summer can reach over 30°C, with occasional high temperatures and dry weather, and in the winter temperatures can drop to about -10°C with cold, dry northerly winds.
The climate in which the Palace Museum is located as an ancient building complex poses a threat to the preservation of its buildings and artifacts. Atmospheric pollution problems in the Beijing area can lead to damage to the museum’s artifacts, such as airborne particles and pollutants such as sulfur dioxide that can be deposited on the surface of artifacts, affecting their appearance and quality. In addition, there is the risk of earthquakes in the Beijing area, and although most of them are minor, the damage to the buildings still cannot be ignored. Therefore, the Palace Museum has designed and restored the building with appropriate earthquake protection measures to ensure the building’s stability and safety.
In addition, with the trend of global warming, the Palace Museum may also be affected by climate change. For example, global warming may lead to changes in the amount and frequency of rainfall in the Beijing area, and the likelihood of extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, typhoons, and hurricanes may increase. These extreme weather events may cause damage to the museum’s buildings and artifacts. In response to these threats, the Palace Museum has been strengthening weather monitoring and risk assessment, and has taken appropriate preventive and countermeasures to safeguard cultural relics in the museum. For example, a number of seismic, waterproof and anti-pollution techniques and materials have been used in the design and restoration of the buildings. In addition, the Palace Museum has established institutions such as the Center for the Protection of Cultural Relics and the Center for the Storage of Cultural Relics to provide professional protection and management of cultural relics.
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