Venice. Problem of drowning

1
Venice. Who will win? Man or nature?
2
Plan

• Problem
• Why Venice is so important?
• Acqua Alta
• Causes. Man or nature?
• Explanation of causes
• Explanation of causes
• Saving the city. MOSE
• Predictions

3
Problem

• "The rate at which Venice is going is about that
  of a lump of sugar in hot tea. - John Ruskin
• Venice is drowning and there is a risk, that in
  the close future Venice would disappear.

4
Why Venice is so important?

• Beauty
• Architecture
• Rich history
• A lot of people live there - 270,660 (60,000 on
  historic Venice)

5
Acqua alta

• a major threat to Venice
• extremely high tides
• the water level at high tide is over 90mm above
  normal
• more than 60 days a year
• In 1966 2 m !

6
Causes. Man or nature?

• MAN

NATURE
Global warming gt sea level rise
Earth Subsidence
Earth Subsidence
Tides
Boat traffic
Tourists and inhabitants
7
Explanation of causes

• Global warming gt sea level rise
• If sea level rises, the Venice can be covered by
  water. Today the reason why sea level rises is
  global warming. And global warming is caused by
  people, because of pollution, greenhouse effect
  etc.
• Earth subsidence (nature fault)
• We dont have to forget, that Venice stands on
  water. Water not literally, of course. It stands
  on the sand, which keeps slowly sinking all the
  time. Also there is a big tectonic plate, which
  presses on the surface and increases the rate at
  which Venice is going down.

8
Explanation of causes

• Earth subsidence (mans fault)
• One of the main causes is that people take the
  water from the soil for industrial aims.
• Tides
• Tides, which come from the Adriatic sea, cause
  acqua alta, which damages a lot this city
• Boat traffic
• Boats are also a reason why Venice is being
  damaged. They cause tiny waves, which hit the
  basis of houses and slowly destroy it.
• Tourists and inhabitants
• In 2011 Venice was visited by over 10 millions of
  tourists! It is quite heavy weight, so it impairs
  the situation.

9
Saving the city. MOSE

• MOSE - Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico
• has been planned since the 1980's and is
  scheduled for completion in 2012
• adjustable barriers, which will stop the tides
  from Adriatic sea

10
Predictions

• average rate at the moment 4 mm by year
• By 2038 80 mm down
• by 2100 50 sm
• If something wouldnt be done, Venice might
  disappear in the closest future