Saturday, August 19, 2023

Trying to save Venice

 


It's not news that the unique city of Venice has a host of troubles. It gets regularly flooded, it's inundated with tourists, the economy is suffering, and hardly anybody can afford to keep their homes from sinking and decaying.

So it is not a surprise that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is considering declaring it an endangered heritage site.


UNESCO wants to add Venice to list of endangered heritage sites

"While Venice has battled a tourist influx for years (25 million annual visitors pre-pandemic), the more recent and urgent threats from climate change, including rising seas and extreme weather events, have left many experts demanding stringent action. The agency has long warned that climate change poses one of the most serious threats to preserving cultural heritage sites.

Climate scientists have warned that Venice could be entirely underwater by 2100. Record floods surged through the city in 2019, damaging St. Mark’s Basilica and temporarily shuttering cultural sites. In the years since, sea walls have protected Venice from another deluge and, in December, the city surrounded the famous basilica with glass barriers to hold back high tides."


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