Italian Council Gets Flooded Immediately After They Rejected Measures On Climate Change

The historic city of Venice is facing its worst floods in over 50 years. What is more shocking is the fact that the Veneto regional council, which is located on Venice's iconic Grand Canal, was flooded for the first time ever right after it rejected measures on ways to combat climate change, CNN reported. The council chamber located in Ferro Fini Palace started to get flooded at night when the councillors were debating about the 2020 regional budget. Democratic Party councillor Andrea Zanoni shared the images of the inundated council in a long Facebook post.

The floods in Venice was caused by a nearly 1.9 meter (6-foot) tide that sent waist-high water flowing through St. Mark's Square, cast the city's world-famous gondolas onto walkways, and threatened its medieval, Baroque and Renaissance art and architecture.

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Against the backdrop of the disaster, a corruption-riddled underwater barrier system that was supposed to protect the city still is not operational after more than 16 years of construction and at least 5 billion euros of public funds. It was supposed to be working by 2011.

While 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, climate scientists note that exceptional tides _ those over 1.4 meters _ have become much more frequent in the past two decades.

Of the 20 exceptional tides recorded from 1936 through Tuesday's, more than half have occurred since 2000.

"It is a long-term issue. It is not the issue of one flood, we restore, and we go back to normal," Rossler said.

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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. Venice's Tide Office said that because of the combined effect of the city's settling 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.

Venice is being monitored for inclusion on a list of World Heritage sites in danger, which serves as a call to action to the international community.

Other problems threatening the city include large numbers of tourists, which put stress on a city where even something as simple of trash collection must be done by boat, and the passage of cruise ships through St. Mark's Basin.

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The vessels release pollution, displace water into the city and carry other safety risks. Over the summer a cruise ship crashed into a boat and a dock.

The historic flooding only underscores the urgency to resolve Venice's problems.

Even opponents of Moses, who have complained that it is technically flawed, too costly and damaging to the environment, now see it as the only expedient solution.

"We have to be pragmatic. Moses is almost done," said Toto Bergamo Rossi of Venetian Heritage, a nonprofit focused on conservation.

"Maybe it is the wrong project, but we have spent 5 billion euros, a number I cannot count. They have to finish, they have to rush to finish," he said.

If a place like Venice, that hardly sees any unwanted rain, can get flooded, we should all realise that climate change is for real.