More on Venice...

What comes to mind when I say Venice?  For most, I’d assume a romantic, picturesque, and pretty place, known for its canal system. But things are changing here in terms of its water level…

The relative sea level rose by 25cm over the last century (Pilkey, 2009). Flooding has increasingly become a common occurrence for Venice, and it is prone to progressive submersion over time. The picture below marks just how much water level has risen since 1792.

 (taken from Carbognin, 2009)

The particular threats that this region faces are flooding, erosion, and the permanent inundation of low-lying land. The exposure of the land to such high tides is known as ‘acqua alta’. These primarily occur due to strong winds around the Northern Adriatic Sea, creating a surge of water. (Barale, 2010)

Venice is no newcomer to flooding events. They have constructed raised wooden pathways (known as ‘passarelle’) for times when footpaths cannot be walked on (Keahey, 2002). Additionally, during high tides, boats cannot travel down the canals, as they would not be able to pass under bridges.

One of the major flooding events that occurred was in 1966, where the tide was over 1 metre high, causing a lot of destruction, and eroding the coastline hence exposing and damaging coastal towns. Action has been taken to try and safeguard the city from acqua alta. They have become more frequent, and the risk of major events such as that of 1966, or even the flooding that occurred a few weeks ago, has increased.

The high tides cause damage to some of Venice’s construction – the salt water soaks into soft brick, and eventually can lead to its deterioration. Additionally, the waters damage some of Venice’s relics, and interiors also as the tides get higher and the water is able to seep through an increasing number of places.  

So they essentially need to prepare for the worst. A flood management system is still under construction and aims to be complete by 2014. But this is still 2 years away, and, especially after recent events, they need to act fast... 

References:

Barale, V. et al (2010) Oceanography from Space: Revisited, New York: Springer

(http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hH2NkL_318wC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false)

Carbognin, L. et al (2009) Global change and relative sea level rise at Venice: what impact in term of flooding, Climate Dynamics, 35 (6): 1039-1047

(http://www.springerlink.com/content/f121075417614286/fulltext.html)

Keahey, J. (2002) Saving Venice From the Sea, Nova: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/saving-venice.html

Pilkey, O. et al (2009) The Rising Sea, Washington: Island Press

(http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=U4JV91-gZZUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false)