This instrument can detect temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, PM2.5 and other data inside the cave. ”On the 17th, in the seventh cave of Yungang Grottoes in Datong City, Shanxi Province, technical personnel from the Cultural Heritage Protection and Monitoring Center of Yungang Research Institute are checking the operation of the cave environment detection instrument. At the same time, the meteorological monitoring station of Datong Meteorological Bureau located outside the grottoes is synchronously collecting external meteorological data. The intersection and comparison records of internal and external data will become the key to deciphering the erosion of millennium old grottoes by meteorological factors. Shanxi is a major province of cultural relics in China, with over 50000 immovable cultural relics. The types of cultural relics are diverse, ancient, and scattered, mostly located in the wilderness, which is susceptible to natural erosion. With the increasing trend of climate warming, the extreme and spatially uneven precipitation in Shanxi region has significantly intensified, and the impact of meteorological disasters such as lightning, strong winds, and freezing on cultural relics is becoming increasingly prominent. ”Wang Zhijuan, Chief Engineer of Shanxi Provincial Meteorological Bureau, said that immovable cultural relics such as ancient buildings and grotto temples are extremely sensitive to temperature, humidity, precipitation, lightning, etc. "Cultural relic protection and meteorological services cannot be absent. According to data, multiple collapses occurred on the ancient city walls of Pingyao during the rare autumn flood season of 2021; The Tianlongshan Grottoes have intensified weathering due to water seepage; The Great Buddha Temple in Jishan was once destroyed by lightning strikes, and the Buddha Pavilion and a large number of precious woodcut and brick carvings were burned down; The Great White Pagoda of Mount Wutai has cracks due to repeated freezing and thawing, and its surface and structure are damaged obviously... Shanxi attempts to establish a disaster prevention and reduction system led by early warning for cultural relics: in 2022, the meteorological and cultural relics departments signed a strategic cooperation agreement, committed to building a meteorological disaster prevention network for cultural heritage; In 2025, a research and development base for cultural relics meteorological disaster prevention technology will be established, and related research results will fill the gap in the field of lightning protection safety standards and specifications for cultural relics buildings in Shanxi and even China. During this period, Shanxi Meteorological Bureau and Cultural Relics Department jointly built a lightning observation station for cultural relics in Mount Wutai, a world cultural heritage site; Establish a cultural and meteorological innovation workstation for the largest existing Tang Dynasty wooden building in China, Foguang Temple; Conduct simulated lightning strike experiments on the Yingxian Wooden Tower, the world's tallest wooden structure building, to develop more effective lightning protection standards. We have also systematically reviewed meteorological data from the past 50 years, analyzed the characteristics of strong winds above level 6 around Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, and found that the dominant wind direction of the strong winds is highly consistent with the tilt direction of the wooden pagoda. These studies can provide reference for the safety protection of wooden pagoda structures. ”Wang Zhijuan said. At present, Shanxi is trying to draw a meteorological disaster risk assessment map for key cultural relics, promoting the transformation of cultural relic protection mode from "rescue" to "prevention". This job has greater responsibility and greater challenges. ”Wang Zhijuan said that warning before destruction is the greatest reverence for cultural relics. (New Society)