Chip Colwell, Lecturer in Anthropology, writes about how risks to museums are constantly evolving. Museums are locked in a constant struggle against decay and an almost absurdly wide-ranging array of natural and human threats. There's even a formal list of the evil-sounding "agents of deterioration" that museums use to evaluate risks to their collections, ranging from bugs to temperature to water to fire.
The Brazil Museum Fire Was a Stark Reminder That History Is Always in Danger of Being Lost Forever
Time, Sept 6