ALB2 9/1/19

Venice Menace: Famed City is Sinking & Tilting

Sea-level rise isn't the only thing that has Venice's famous canals rising ever-so-slightly every year: The city is also sinking, a new study shows, in contrast to previous studies that suggested the city's subsidence had stabilized.

The study's findings also showed that the Italian city is slowly tilting slightly to the east, something scientists had never noticed before.

What's causing the sinking?

The forces causing the subsidence now are likely natural ones that have been impacting the area for a long time, particularly plate tectonics. The Adriatic plate, on which Venice sits, is subducting beneath the Apennines Mountains and causing the city and its environs to drop slightly in elevation. The compaction of the sediments beneath Venice also remains a factor.

What do you think is going to happen to Venice in the future?

Are many places you know changing forever or even disappearing?

Plans for the distant future

Year 2025…

I will be doing…

I will have done…

chicken out phrasal verb informal

to decide at the last moment not to do something you said you would do, because you are afraid

 You’re not chickening out, are you?