Venice Italy, 85% under water, climate change?

Blog link: http://newsforecasters.com/?p=4435

The northern Italian canal city of Venice is facing its first significant flood of the current rainy season. The rainy season in Italy has gradually extended and become more severe in recent years. Consequently, the floods are starting earlier than usual this year. Are the horrors of climate change upon us?

Venice has been hit with another high tide that has left around 85% of the Italian city underwater. According to local authorities, the tide peaked at 154cm on Friday, leaving the already flooded iconic landmarks in the lagoon city struggling to take more water. Schools and several public offices also remained closed in anticipation of the fresh flooding, and locals were advised to travel only when necessary. It comes after the city experienced its second-worst tide in history on Monday night, reaching a peak of 187cm. Take a look:

The latest round of flooding has been attributed mostly to a combination of high tides from a full moon and high winds pushing water from the shallow Adriatic Sea into Venice The first question we need to ask is, has this happened before. Well yes, the overall record was set when tides hit 194cm set in 1966. Of the 20 exceptional tides recorded from 1936 through today, more than half have occurred since 2000.

Climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf of the University of Potsdam estimates that one-third of Venice’s increasing vulnerability is due to global warming, which has raised the sea level. "The rest is mostly man-made," he said. The 1,600-year-old city is built on uncompacted sediment, which is settling naturally. Venice’s Tide Office said that because of the combined effect of the city’s settling into the sea and the rising of the sea, the water is now 30 centimeters (12 inches) higher against the buildings than it was when record-keeping began in 1873. About 10 to 11 centimeters of that took place since the last big flood in 1966.

Is this enough to show a clear trend? News Forecasters is not so sure.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has declared a state of emergency and has pledged €20 million in funds to help with an urgent cleanup operation. However, Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro has estimated the actual costs to repair the city could be much higher. The Mayor has regularly sounded climate change emergency alerts.

There have been preventative measures already started - actually long ago. In 1984, Italy launched a flood barrier project called Mose. It was supposed to protect the lagoon city of Venice from high tides. The modern-day Moses consists of 78 yellow mobile underwater barriers, when activated, rise above the surface, and prevent surging tides from the Adriatic Sea flooding the Venetian lagoon. But the project was plagued by corruption, cost overruns, and prolonged delays, and was at the center of many bribery cases. Engineers are predicting the sea defense system will be ready at the end of 2021 at the cost of €5.5 billion. The total cost, including all expenses, is estimated at €7 billion.

So what are the takeaways from the disastre in Venice? First off, the climate change alarmists are most likely overstating the climate change crisis - but are taking full advantage of the political environment to push a greater agenda. We have already had a discussion (click here) about what they really must do to convince the general public into action. That does not mean that Venice does not have a problem - the city is sinking into the sediment naturally.

Say what you want about Italians, but the fact of the matter is that when government money is at stake, the money profiteers will come out of the woodwork. So when we hear of massive Green New Deal climate change programs involving trillions of dollars, we see a nightmare financial crisis of confidence.

The leads News Forecasters to believe, though some efforts to alleviate climate change may occur, such as what we see in Venice - globally, very little will be done in terms of climate change in the future. If it is a crisis as we are being told by the climate change alarmists, we will face it without a plan.