txt: Is Venice Sinking?
The net effect was like letting the air out of your tires, or perhaps more aptly, draining your waterbed. It wasn’t until the late 60’s that hydrologists put one and one together, slapped their foreheads, and sounded the alarm. The Italian government acted swiftly and banned groundwater pumping in the area forever. That did the trick and plugged the leak. Not only did the dramatic subsidence stop, but the area actually saw an upward “bounce” of a couple centimeters. Now the level of sinking is back to its normal “background”, non-crisis levels. But the damage has been done. As we’ll discuss in upcoming posts, losing those 10 precious centimeters was a huge strategic blow to Venice’s battle against the sea.link: www.veniceisnotsinking.it [it] video: Venice Under Siege - Italy journeymanpictures on youtube.com [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrOoW38JWsw]
