Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, has blamed climate change for the flooding currently affecting much of the city. The floods have been caused by a combination of high tides and heavy rain that is causing rivers to overflow. Waters have peaked at 1.87m, a height that has been exceeded only once since records began in 1923. While we should try to avoid attributing a single event to climate change, the increased frequency of these exceptional tides is obviously a big concern. In 1966, the tide reached 1.94m. Two people have died and the crypt of St. Mark ’s Basilica has been completely flooded, leading to concerns that the basilica’s columns may have experienced structural damage.
Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, has blamed climate change for the flooding currently affecting much of the city. The floods have been caused by a combination of high tides and heavy rain that is causing rivers to overflow. Waters have peaked at 1.87m, a height that has been exceeded only once since records began in 1923. In 1966, the tide reached 1.94m. Two people have died and the crypt of St. Mark ’s Basilica has been completely flooded, leading to concerns that the basilica’s columns may have experienced structural damage.