Flooding in Venice worsens off-season amid climate change
The repeated invasion of brackish lagoon water into St. Mark's Basilica this summer is a quiet reminder that the threat hasn't receded.

"I can only say that in August, a month when this never used to happen, we had tides over a meter five times. I am talking about the month of August, when we are quiet," St. Mark's chief caretaker, Carlo Alberto Tesserin, told The Associated Press.

Venice's unique topography, built on log piles among canals, has made it particularly vulnerable to climate change. Rising sea levels are increasing the frequency of high tides that inundate the 1,600-year-old Italian lagoon city, which is also gradually sinking.
It is the fate of coastal cities like Venice that will be on the minds of climate scientists and global leaders meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, at a U.N. climate conference that begins Oct. 31.

Venice's worse-case scenario for rise by the end of the century is a startling 120 centimeters (3 feet, 11 inches), according to a new study published by the European Geosciences Union. That is 50% higher than the worse-case global sea-rise average of 80 centimeters (2 feet, 7 1/2 inches) forecast by the U.N. science panel.

In this Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 file photo, people wade their way through water in flooded St. Mark's Square following a high tide, in Venice, Italy. Lashing winds that pushed 1.87 meters (nearly 6 feet 2 inches) of water into Venice in November 2019 and ripped the lead tiles off St. Mark's Basilica for the first time ever shocked Venetians with the city's second-worst flood in history, but it was the additional four exceptional floods over the next six weeks that triggered fears about the impact of worsening climate change. Credit: Anteo Marinoni/LaPresse via AP, file
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In this Friday, Nov. 15, 2019 file photo, a view of flooded St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. Lashing winds that pushed 1.87 meters (nearly 6 feet 2 inches) of water into Venice in November 2019 and ripped the lead tiles off St. Mark's Basilica for the first time ever shocked Venetians with the city's second-worst flood in history, but it was the additional four exceptional floods over the next six weeks that triggered fears about the impact of worsening climate change. Credit: AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File
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In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019 file photo, people carry their luggage as they wade through water during a high tide of 1.44 meters (4.72 feet), near the Rialto Bridge, in Venice, Italy. Lashing winds that pushed 1.87 meters (nearly 6 feet 2 inches) of water into Venice in November 2019 and ripped the lead tiles off St. Mark's Basilica for the first time ever shocked Venetians with the city's second-worst flood in history, but it was the additional four exceptional floods over the next six weeks that triggered fears about the impact of worsening climate change. Credit: AP Photo/Luigi Costantini, file
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A view of the damaged St. Mark's Basilica's mosaic floor, in Venice, Italy, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. Lashing winds that pushed 1.87 meters (nearly 6 feet 2 inches) of water into Venice in November 2019 and ripped the lead tiles off St. Mark's Basilica for the first time ever shocked Venetians with the city's second-worst flood in history, but it was the additional four exceptional floods over the next six weeks that triggered fears about the impact of worsening climate change. Credit: AP Photo/Antonio Calanni
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St. Mark's chief caretaker, Carlo Alberto Tesserin talks with AP journalist during an interview, in Venice, Italy, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. Lashing winds that pushed 1.87 meters (nearly 6 feet 2 inches) of water into Venice in November 2019 and ripped the lead tiles off St. Mark's Basilica for the first time ever shocked Venetians with the city's second-worst flood in history, but it was the additional four exceptional floods over the next six weeks that triggered fears about the impact of worsening climate change. Credit: AP Photo/Antonio Calanni
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A man indicates salts on the St. Mark's Basilica's inside wall, in Venice, Italy, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. Lashing winds that pushed 1.87 meters (nearly 6 feet 2 inches) of water into Venice in November 2019 and ripped the lead tiles off St. Mark's Basilica for the first time ever shocked Venetians with the city's second-worst flood in history, but it was the additional four exceptional floods over the next six weeks that triggered fears about the impact of worsening climate change. Credit: AP Photo/Antonio Calanni
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The damage at columns in St. Mark's Basilica's in Venice, Italy, is seen in this photo taken on Oct. 7, 2021. Lashing winds that pushed 1.87 meters (nearly 6 feet 2 inches) of water into Venice in November 2019 and ripped the lead tiles off St. Mark's Basilica for the first time ever shocked Venetians with the city's second-worst flood in history, but it was the additional four exceptional floods over the next six weeks that triggered fears about the impact of worsening climate change. Credit: AP Photo/Antonio Calanni
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A damaged column in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. Lashing winds that pushed 1.87 meters (nearly 6 feet 2 inches) of water into Venice in November 2019 and ripped the lead tiles off St. Mark's Basilica for the first time ever shocked Venetians with the city's second-worst flood in history, but it was the additional four exceptional floods over the next six weeks that triggered fears about the impact of worsening climate change. Credit: AP Photo/Antonio Calanni
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