A Fairly Deep Look at MOSE

My Goodness I had no idea what goes on behind the scenes in Venice. Thank you for sharing this very informative article. It’s impressive to say the least.

Wow, this is fantastic. Thank you, Eric.

Very interesting article, thanks. I do wish we as a people would stop blaming every Mother Nature happening on climate change. Venice has been flooding since the 5th century. I think people forget at one time the earth was almost 100% covered in water. It is now 71%. It could become less or more in centuries to come. No one really can predict.

I am glad science is doing something practical to ease the devastation of Venice. It is one of the most unique places on earth.

MOSE also has an interesting website.
https://www.mosevenezia.eu/project/?lang=en

I do wish we as a people would stop blaming every Mother Nature happening on climate change

Blame what you want, but the number of tides higher than 120 cm has dramatically increased in the last 30 years. Since the moon has remained the same size, it's either the southern winds blowing from the Adriatic or the sea level.

The fact that Venice is flooded when the tides are high and the winds are strong is nothing new, but how often it happens now is very worrying.

Yeah, Venice has always had some high water but now the water is higher, the floods are more frequent, and cover much more of the city. It is pretty much directly related to rising sea levels and more turbulent weather.

Aqua alta events are becoming more frequent and more severe/higher as time goes on, and the Commune has been recording tide levels for centuries.
Extracting ground water for the Marghera/Mestre chemical works has dropped the floor of the lagoon by 15cm, more in the centre, less in more remote places like Torcello.
Weather events, the southerly siroccos, are more severe, pushing watercup the Adriatic, and holding it there when the ebbs.
Dredging canals for larger vessels, tankers via the Petroleum Channel to Marghera, and the cruise liners to Venice has changed the hydrology of the lagoon, allowing tidal water to flow in with less restriction.
And sea level rise, of course.
Put all that together, and Venice is in a spot of bother.

Sea level has increased only about 120mm in the last 50 years.
For those unfamiliar with the metric system that is equivalent to about 5 inches.
The rise of the average sea level alone is not enough to justify the more severe Acqua Alta.