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Venice has a good chance of going completely underwater
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
The risk of flooding threatens more than 30 regions of Italy. This is mainly due to global climate change. Scientists have recently announced the date when Venice, one of the most unusual cities on the Adriatic coast, may disappear under water.
Scientists from Italy and Switzerland have determined which areas of the city are experiencing the greatest flooding and what causes this. The experts have compiled a corresponding map, which shows the most "dangerous" places.
The authors published details of the study in the periodical Scientific Reports.
As the researchers suggest, by 2100 the average level of the area where Venice is located will be lower by approximately 17 to 53 cm. Considering that the protruding part of the land in the central part of the city is approximately 90 cm higher than the water level, this will eventually lead to the fact that the period of high tides will be observed much more often (today it is four times a year, and in the future it is expected to be up to 20-250 times).
The map compiled by the researchers was based on information obtained from satellites using two radio wave bands with different frequencies and spatial imaging resolutions. This information was collected over two periods – from 1992 to 2010 and from 2008 to 2011.
If we look at the period of the last century, we can see that Venice has sunk into water by 25 centimeters: fifteen centimeters of this is due to the depletion of groundwater, and ten centimeters is due to the increased sea level.
Since 2003, in order to prevent flooding in Venice, the city government has begun building protective dams.
Scientists have known for a long time that the unique city is sinking. Experts began to regularly measure the water level in Venice only in 1872, so the countdown of the flooding began from that date.
The overall number of floods in Venice has increased significantly in recent years. At least four or five times a year, residents have to move around the city using wooden planks and crossbars. This is due not only to rising sea levels, but also to the subsidence of the city.
However, many Italian experts believe that such gradual subsidence cannot be considered very pronounced. "1-2 millimeters annually is an insignificant value, compared to the indicators that we observed several decades ago," commented scientists representing the Italian University of Padova. Indeed, the rapid subsidence in the last century was largely caused by natural processes and pumping out groundwater. Also, during this period, a rise in sea level of 11 centimeters was recorded.
However, most scientists are confident that Venice does not have such an optimistic future. The barriers built to withstand flooding will probably have to be used very often in the near future. The sea level is expected to rise by another half a meter by the end of this century, which could worsen the problem of flooding in the city.