Venice sea level may rise by 1.2m by 2100 - study

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 1 - The Venice sea level may rise by as much as 1.2 metres by 2100 as global warming causes global waters to surge, according to the latest study out Wednesday.
    The study, by the universities of the Salento and Ca' Foscari in Venice, has just come out in the journal Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences.
    It said that, depending on how global sea level rises go, the level of the water in Venice could rise by between 17 and 120 centimetres.
    Georg Umgiesser, one of the researchers, said that the iconic lagoon city's survival was currently linked to the MOSE flood barriers, but if forecasts were wrong then the system could be "overwhelmed".
    It may be necessary to close the entire lagoon for a year in 2075 to cope with the rise in the sea level, he said.
    "The projections up till 2100 are not by any means certain but the city must be prepared," Umgiesser said.
    Venice has been protected from the 'acqua alta' that used to regularly submerge it by the MOSE, which became operational last year. (ANSA).