Venice and the global threat

As floodwaters in Saint Mark's Square are no longer a novelty, and knowing that, in any case, Venice has a problem as it was built in a lagoon, most of us probably did not understand the severity of the danger posed by this week's flooding of the city that once reigned over much of the Eastern Mediterranean.

But a simple list of recent events would seem to confirm the fears of scientists that by the end of the century the city may be lost. Of the 10 worst floods in Venice's long history, five were recorded over the past 20 years, with the last of these just last year.

On Wednesday, the waters rose by 1.87 meters, just 6 centimeters below the record set in 1966. The "original sin" that condemned the city - the fact that it was built on shifting tectonic plates, causing it to gradually sink - has been compounded by the rise of sea waters and the extreme weather...