The complexity of safeguarding

In Venice a tide that exceeds 80cm is called a tidal wave, measured on the sea floor zero at Punta Salute. Some problems are created at the lowest points in the city, including Saint Mark’s square.

12% of the city is submerged when the limit reaches 110cm. When the limit exceeds 120cm 35% of Venice is submerged so you can therefore walk with water up to your ankles or walk on top of special walkways if you want to keep dry.

Georg Umgiesser

Oceanographer with the National Research Council
The sea level is forecast to rise between 10 and 90 centimetres over the next 100 years, however these are old forecasts and now we have the new 2007 ones. The IPCC, intergovernmental panel on climate change, estimate an increase of a minimum of 18cm. to a maximum of 59cm in the sea level.

These projections include the effect caused
by the increased ice flow from Greenland and the Antarctic
at the levels observed
between 1993 and 2003.
These projections do not consider the fact that
these levels could change in the future, increasing
from 10 to 20cm or even more.

Georg Umgiesser

Oceanographer with the National Research Council
There are both pessimistic and optimistic evaluations, but it all depends on the scenarios we forecast. Scenarios of what man will do over the next 100 years: Whether or not he will be able to reduce the emissions of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere.