Until 2020, no packing list for a winter's journey to Venice was complete without gumboots. Built atop small lagoon islets, the fabled 1600 year old city of Venice has been a victim of both subsidence and, more significantly, global sea level rise fuelled by climate change. The Italian government has funded construction a series of floodgates to close the lagoon entrance before exceptionally high tide phenomena known as acqua alta. After 17 years marked by delays and drama the MOSE barriers first rose to protect the city from flood on 3 October 2020. Until their deployment, flooding, especially in winter, was increasingly commonplace as local sea levels rose 2.76 ± 1.75 mm/year since 1993* (this excludes subsidence). In 2002, the system was designed for a "prudent" estimate of 22cm of sea level rise**. Twenty years later, scientists are taking metres, not centimetres over coming centuries if carbon emissions are not dramatically curtailed, suggesting that MOSE's solution — as well as being affordable only for richer nations — may prove decidedly short-term. Sources: * www.researchgate.net/publication/346867948 ** https://e360.yale.edu/features/rising-waters-can-a-massive-sea-barrier-save-venice-from-drowning

Adam Sebire / Climate Visuals