Venice Is Sinking? Yes, But Not As Fast We Think, Says Expert

Venice, the ‘City of Water,’ could soon become literally that, if a recent study is to be believed.

Earlier this month, researchers at the Scripps Institute at the University of California calculated that the Italian city was sinking at the rate of two millimeters per year. That study is due to be published on Wednesday, but already other Venice experts are questioning the findings of the paper.

Luigi Tosi of Italy’s National Research Center said the Scripps investigation “tells us nothing new.” As Tosi points out, “We have published a paper back in 1992 that arrived to the same conclusions,” he said.

Meanwhile, experts at Consorzio Venezia Nuova, the group in charge of protecting Venice, told NBC News that they thought the city was sinking much more slowly than the Scripps report suggested. An official who asked to remain anonymous told one NBC reporter:

“I learned about the new research from journalists like yourself. We have records of the subsiding of Venice for hundreds of years, and yet they haven’t called us.”

The unnamed expert then laid into the methodology of the Scripps investigation, which took into account ten years of water level measurements in Venice:

“We have calculated that the city has been sinking three to four centimeters (about 1.5 inches) per century. Now they say two millimeters per year … that means Venice would sink 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) every 100 years. That’s more than five times more than we calculated. So I’ll believe it when I see it.”

So… maybe Venice isn’t sinking as fast as we all thought! Or maybe it’s actually sped up and is sinking quicker than ever! Basically, it’s a choice of bad news or worse news for Venetians.

[Via NBC News]