Of Death And Venice


Gone Forever?

 


As everyone knows, Venice is a water-city. It was founded by refugees from the Italian mainland who fled to the area’s islands and lagoons after the fall of the Roman Empire. From those aquatic beginnings, the city then developed into, first, a city-state, then a great sea-power, and now a museum city revered by the whole world.


But, it is horribly vulnerable to tide and storm. There has always been a part of the year during which the the city was at least partly flooded. Now, though, climate change is making that situation far worse. Increasingly powerful storms and ever rising water levels have put Venice at risk. It is possible that within our own life-times, the city could vanish under the waves. (1) 


The problem? The world, and Italy, have been slow to take the action that could preserve the city for the future. It just seems too expensive and too troublesome, particularly when the problem at hand may not be at its worst for some time to come. Easier just to look the other way…


Which is tragic, but not unexpected. After all, the whole world is at risk from climate change. And, for decades now, we have seen the Powers The Be evade the problem, or even announce that global warming is a myth and “junk science.”


Why, then, should anyone be remotely surprised by the death of Venice, when men like Jim Inhofe can stand in the halls of Congress, holding a snowball, and claim that the things are just fine, even as fire and flood are all about them?(2)


~mjt




Sources:


1. “Flooding in Venice worsens off-season amid climate change,” by Colleen Barry, AP, Oct 20, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/floods-climate-science-lifestyle-business-7e87c573c7ad9129a8d1a4fcaaa3f9e1


2. “Climate change denial,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_denial


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