Latest research has identified a worrying number of locations, many of them top travel destinations, around the world under increasing threat form global warming and the effects of climate change.

The following article features Venice and is the first in a series that will cover various world wide destinations including the Maldives, the Rockies, Great Barrier Reef, Antarctica and Alaska.

Venice is Sinking

Venice is sinking. Its man-made islands are disappearing into the Adriatic: it’s now a race against time to build an appropriate flood barrier that is effective enough to protect it.

“Venice”, declared Truman Capote, is “like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go”.

Venice was built very much for show, its sights are global icons of art and architecture. The Grand Canal, the finest “high street” in the world, is lined with magnificent palaces and spanned by the exquisite Rialto Bridge, a centre of business in the Middle Ages.

At the heart of Venice lies Piazza San Marco, otherwise known as St Marks Square, dubbed by Napoleon “the finest drawing room in Europe”. On one flank is the Basilica di San Marco, a Byzantine jewel box from the outside, with stunning floor mosaics. Next to it is the Doge’s Palace, seat of government for a thousand years. It is brimming with dazzling mosaics and paintings.

Venice Flooded

Venice and its treasures have been in peril for a long time, as it thought to be sinking on its foundations.  At the same time, the globally warmed seas slowly inch up the tidemark. The city is regularly inundated by waters from its lagoon, particularly at spring tide and when the wind blows in across the open sea. On occasion, St. Mark’s Square is flooded. Wooden catwalks – always stacked ready for pedestrian use – have to be laid out across the square so that residents and visitors can move across the square without wading through the ankle-deep water.

Here’s a postcard mock-up to show flooded Venice:

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