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It's the "floating city" but also the sinking city. In the past century, Venice has subsided by around 25 centimeters, or nearly 10 inches.
Meanwhile, the average sea level in Venice has risen nearly a foot since 1900.
It's a tortuous pairing that means one thing: Not just regular flooding, but an inexorable slump of this most beloved of cities into the watery depths of its famous lagoon.
For visitors, its precarious status is part of the attraction of Venice — a need to visit now before it's too late, a symbol that humanity cannot win against the power of nature.
For Venetians, the city's island location has for centuries provided safety against invasion, but also challenges. Tides have got ever higher and more frequent as the climate crisis intensifies. And the city sinks around 2 millimeters a year due to regular subsidence.
But what if you could just… raise the city? It sounds like science fiction. In fact it's the idea of a highly respected engineer who thinks it could be the key to saving Venice.
Read more at the link in @cnnclimate's bio.
📸: Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images; Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images; Andrea Merola/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock; Federico Meneghetti/REDA/Universal Images Group/Getty Images; Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images; Uygar Ozel/Shutterstock
