Venice - Myth and Reality about Climate Change

By Dr. Dominic Standish, University of Iowa (USA)/CIMBA (Italy).

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Dominic Standish

Introduction

Structure: Sinking, Climate Change, Flooding, The Venice ‘Problem’, Venetian Mythology and Climate, Environmental Risk: Myth and Reality, Questions and Discussion.

Duration: 1 hour.

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Teamwork: We would like to avoid 'side conversations' during presentations.

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Dominic Standish

Presentation objective

To examine how there is reality to climate change in Venice, yet myths too.

Deconstructing these myths reveals that climate change is not the principal problem in Venice.

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Dominic Standish

Rising Waters in Venice

‘Sinking’ mystifies several phenomena that have causedflooding in Venice.

It is important to distinguish between:

general rise in relative sea level (RSL)

and

exceptional high tides

Exceptional high tides are the product of many factors.

These include rain and water from rivers flowing into the lagoon.

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Dominic Standish

Sinking in Venice

Subsidence mainly caused by extraction of groundwater from wells for industrial complex at Marghera (1930-1970)

Venice’s rate of 0.4 mm/year subsidence accelerated to 1.8 mm/year from 1930 (Ghetti 1988)

By 1950 subsidence was 8 mm a year Currently, subsidence is minimal (0.5 mm a year)

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Dominic Standish

Why does Venice flood?

• Between 1897 and 1983, relative sea level (RSL) in Venice rose 23 cm• 12 cm of the 23 cm RSL rise was due to subsidence• 11 cm was caused by rising sea levels (Italian National Research Council)• Global sea levels added 5 cm to the water level in Venice between 1970 and 2005 (Istituzione Centro Previsioni e Segnalazioni Maree 2009)

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) established that there was a global temperature rise of 0.74° C between 1906 and 2005, which added to global sea levels rising (eustatic change) by an average rate of 1.8 mm/year from 1961 (IPCC 2007, 2).

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Global Sea Level Rises

Global Sea Level Rises HaveMinimal Impact on Venice (A)

In a paper published in 2009, Carbognin et al (2009) analysed how global sea level rises are predicted to affect the Adriatic Sea, which is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. Compared with nearby seas, “[i]n the Mediterranean, a semi-enclosed basin, sea level trend rates are smaller than in the neighbouring (sic). In particular the Adriatic Sea assumes very peculiar and different characteristics due its shape and low depth” (Carbognin et al. 2009,7).

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Global Sea Level Rises HaveMinimal Impact on Venice (B)

Carbognin et al (2009) refer to research by Holgate

(2007) showing that the eustatic rate in the northern Adriatic Sea is consistently lower

(approximately 35 percent) than the global

mean. Similarly, the OECD (2010) notes that,

“since the Mediterranean has registered

stationary and even falling sea levels in recent

decades, its take-up of global average sea

level rise could be lower than in other places”

(OECD 2010, 158).

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Dominic Standish

Recent flooding in Venice

In 2007, there were no high tides over 110cm.

In December 2008, the city experienced its highest floods for 22 years.

In 2009, there were 16 high tideflood events above 110cm.This compares with an average of3.5 such events a year 1960-1980 and4 events in the last 9 years.

The number of medium flooding events in Venice during 2010 of 80cmand 90cm above the tide meter surpassed the number of these events in 2009.2009.

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Dominic Standish

Protection from high flooding

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Dominic Standish

Venice's flooding protection

Project MOSE’s floodgates should protect Venice from tides above 110cm after completion predicted in 2014

CVN (Consorzio Venezia Nuova – New Venice Consortium) and other organisations have been implementing ‘insulae’ defence measures

Venice is now much better protected than in 1966

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Dominic Standish

1966 floods – the start of the Venice ‘problem’

Huge storm surge of the 3rd and 4th of November 1966 exaggerated flooding. Rain and water from rivers made flooding worse.

Parts of Venice experienced water depths 1.94m above mean sea level One hundred per cent of the city was

inundated. Picture: St. Mark's Square

4th. November 1966

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Dominic Standish

Objective response to 1966 disaster?

Floods of 1966 were worse in other parts of north-eastern and central Italy

By 19th November 1966, death toll from floods was 110 people

(ANSA 1997)

2 people died near Venice at Chioggia

Both were heart

attacks caused indirectly by floods

Picture: Florence 1966

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Dominic Standish

UNESCO = key claim maker

UNESCO led international response to 1966 floods UNESCO facilitated international diffusion of Venice problem

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Dominic Standish

Legislation to define the Venice problem

Special Law 171 (1973) declared Venice and its lagoon:

“a problem of essential national interest.”

(see Michele Vianello 2004:150)

There were no special laws for Florence.

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Dominic Standish

Metaphorical decline and sinking

Legacy of the Venetian Republic and symbolism of its fall added to perception that Venice was threatened by sinking.

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Dominic Standish

Mythology and Venice

Venetians constructed a mythology about their lineage

Similar to other major cities,

including Rome (Edward Muir 1981)

The first ruling Doge of Venice:

Paoluccio Anafesto

Recorded in the earliest chronicles of the city

(John the Deacon)

Never existed as a Doge or Venetian!

(John Julius Norwich 1983:13)

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Dominic Standish

The Myth of St. Mark

Two Venetian merchants returned to Venice from Egypt with the corpse of St. Mark (828)

Historical evidence exists that a body was brought to Venice at this time

There is uncertainty over whether this was the body of the Evangelist

Did not detract from importance of St. Mark myth for the Venetian state

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Mythology and Climate (A)

The most important legend in the myth of St Mark for the

relationship between Venetians and their environment was

the evangelist’s role in stopping a storm surge to calm the

lagoon.

During a fierce storm on 15 February 1340, a fisherman

was battling to save his boat and equipment from damage.

The fisherman was approached by a stranger, who sent

him to two other strangers, the last of whom ordered the

fisherman to row to the mouth of the lagoon.

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There he saw a ship of demons, which were causing the

storm. The three strangers were revealed as Saint Mark,

Saint George and Saint Nicholas. “See,” St Mark said to

the fisherman, “how high the water has risen in the

houses, and how many boats have sunk.” He added,

“Do you see, this city is going to the bottom and will perish

by the waters” (re-told by Crouzet-Pavan 2002, 50).

The three saints disposed of the demons and calmed the

lagoon by making the sign of a cross.

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Mythology and Climate (B)

Dominic Standish

Venice at the centre of Western civilisation: receiving the French

Ambassador (Canaletto)

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Dominic Standish

Relative political harmony

Mythology about Venetian Republic's harmonious institutional structures dates from fifteenth century

(Crouzet-Pavan 2002:187)

Launched throughout

Europe during

sixteenth century

Compared with European

breakdown of Christian unity

and unstable Italian city states.

Picture: Canaletto's harmony

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Dominic Standish

Venice as a metaphor for self-government

Development of self-government during Venetian Republic created constitutional myth Resonated prominently in European, American and anglophone political thought, particularly during sixteenth century

(John Eglin 2001:42)

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Dominic Standish

Death of the political metaphor

The representation of Venice as politically degraded was confirmed by the fall of the Republic in 1797.

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Dominic Standish

Napoleon introduced mythical Venetian disequilibrium

Divorce of this previously mythically balanced relationship Led to belief that disequilibrium emerged between the sea and city Myth that Napoleon's reign

began Venice's environmental

disequilibrium built on constitutional

disequilibrium.

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Dominic Standish

Replacement of political with cultural metaphors

After 1797, the myth of Venice lost much of its political significance Its reputation for cultural decadence became dominant Venice became a key icon in the cultural Romantic movement Illustrated by J.M.W. Turner (picture)

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The End of the Venetian Republic as the Fall of Man

“In the fall of Venice think of thine.”Lord George Gordon Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto IV, (2008 [1812],153).

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Dominic Standish

Venice as decadent, fallen humanity

Thomas Mann’s 1912 book Death in Venice

In Luigi Visconti's 1973 film Death in Venice:

“not only the characters are in a state fallen from grace and integrity, Venice itself is continuously targeted as a metaphorical expression of the Fall.” (Margaret Plant 2002:334)

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Dominic Standish

Venice as human failure

For Friedrich Nietzsche (1982:494), the Venetian lagoon became a prism for human melancholy:

“All is now motionless, flat, dejected, gloomy, like the lagoon of Venice.”

Philosopher Edward

Said (1999:46) stated:

Venice “is a place where

one finds a quite special finality.”

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Dominic Standish

Moral decline and physical sinking

Speculations that the Republic's fall would

be followed by Venice sinking into the sea See The Stones of Venice by John Ruskin (1860) But devastating flooding was not new to Venice In 1106 severe flooding of the Venetian old town

Malamocco swept away the entire community and left

not one building standing (Norwich 1983, 82).

Lagoon islands experienced significant inundations in

782, 840, 875, 1102, 1240, 1268, and 1794

(Keahey 2002, 98).

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Dominic Standish

Physical decline and sinking

The emblematic bell tower on St. Mark's Square collapsed in 1902 This captured international attention Viennese architect Otto Wagner declared this indicated the imminent

sinking of the city

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Dominic Standish

Venice’s waters perceived as modern threat

Despite the more devastating impact of

flooding before 1797, the Venetian Republic

celebrated its waters as resources for trade,

fish, salt and as a means of transport.

This was illustrated by the annual ‘Marriage

To the Sea’ ceremony.

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Dominic Standish

Sea and lagoon as modern sources of wealth

Venice's tourist economy was worth €1.5 billion annually in 2007 with the cruise ship market representing nearly 10 percent of this.

510 cruise ships sailed through Venice in 2007 compared with 200 in 2000.

Venice's cruise passengers increased by 16.9 percent in 2009 compared to 2008, despite a 16.7 percent decline in total port traffic (mostly cargo)

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Dominic Standish

Tourism as environmental risk

Mass tourism is being interpreted as another human created environmental risk for Venice (Margaret Plant 2002:2)

No positive accounts of how the masses can now do a 'Grand Tour' of Venice

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Dominic Standish

Venice as metaphor for environmental risk

Sustainability and risk were linked to Venice at UN Rio environmental conference (1992)

UN addressed Venice as special case (Musu 2001) UNESCO (2007) described Venice as threatened by projected sea level

rises due to climate change

(Environmental News Service 2007)

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Dominic Standish

Venice as the crisis of Western civilisation

Venice has a long history as symbol of Western

civilisation

André Chastel referred to

“the Venetian challenge:

the central episode of the

crisis of modern civilization”

(quoted in Rinaldo 2001:61)

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Venice is not in peril from sinking, rising sea levels or tourism

These are constructed myths that express contemporary

cultural preoccupations. These myths can be compared

with the ancient myth of St Mark, created to provide the

city with wider meaning. There is reality to rising sea levels

and increased flooding. But these problems are being

addressed with the mobile dams and can be solved with

other technologies.

The real danger for Venice, and

unfortunately for many parts of the world, is the sinking of

human ambition, courage and resilience.

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Dominic Standish

Some of my work on Venice that you may find useful

'Attempts to sink Venice dam project flood into EU,' The Economist - The European Voice, 25/3/2004. 'Will sinking Venice raise our ambitions?' Italy Daily section of the International Herald Tribune,3.12.2002. 'Flap Project Will Save Venice,' Italy Daily section of the International Herald Tribune, 10.12.2001. 'Barriers to barriers: why environmental precaution has delayed mobile floodgates to protect Venice,' in Adapt or Die, ed. K. Okonski (London: Profile Books, 2003). 'Barriere alle barriere: perché il principio di precauzione ha ostacolato il progetto MOSE che salverà Venezia,' in Dall’effetto serra alla pianificazione economica, eds. C. Stagnaro and K. Okonski (Milan: Rubbettino/Leonardo Facco, 2003). 'A view from the bridge,' The Architects’ Journal (UK), 3.4.2003. 'Big projects, small minds', Spiked-online, http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000006D985.htm,17.7.2002. 'Why we should save Venice,' Spiked-online, http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/printable/395/, 15.6.2006. 'Kyoto COP Out,' Spiked-online http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/printable/395/, 18.12.2003. 'Who will save Venice from sinking?' Spiked-online, http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000000543C.htm, 19.1.2001. 'Death in Venice,' Spiked-online, http://www.spiked- online.com/index.php?/site/printable/3687/27.7.2007. ''The death of Venice is greatly exaggerated,' Spiked-online, http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/6004/, 8.12.2008. 'Barriers to Barriers,' Tech Central Station, http://www.techcentralstation.be/2051/, 29.4.2003. 'Venice's sinking ambition,' Tech Central Station, http://www.techcentralstation.com 23.4.2003. 'MIXED REACTIONS TO VENICE BARRIER APPROVAL,' ANSA Italian National Press Agency,24.5.2004. 'OPPOSITION RISES AGAINST VENICE DAM PROJECT,' ANSA Italian National Press Agency,13.2.2004. ‘SEAWATER COULD SAVE VENICE FROM SINKING' ANSA Italian National Press Agency, 22.12.2003. 'WATER PROTESTS AGAINST VENICE DAM PROJECT,' ANSA Italian National Press Agency, 13.9.2004.

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Dominic Standish

My work on Venice

'Venice in Environmental Peril?

Myth and Reality' University

Press of America, 2011.Website and blog:

http://www.dominicstandish.com/40

Dominic Standish

Video links on Venice that you may find useful

'Francesco's Venice,' BBC DVD, 2006.

'Venice: The Flood of 1966': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01I-Ox2PYbs

High Water (Acqua alta) in Venice (2005): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDPWwW6w93k

'Extreme Engineering: Venice Flood Gates,' Discovery Channel: http://www.veoh.com/videos/v261228WDHNpSSB

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Selected references

ANSA News Agency, Venice 1966-1996. 30 Years of Protection as Covered by the Press, Rome, ANSA Dossier, 1997. Berendt, J., The City of Falling Angels, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 2005. Carbognin, Laura, Pietro Teatini, Alberto Tomasin, and Luigi Tosi. 2009. “Global change and relative sea level rise at Venice: what impact in term of flooding.” Climate Dynamics 35, 6:1039-1047. Crouzet-Pavan, E., Venice Triumphant. The Horizons of a Myth, Maryland (USA), John Hopkins University Press, 2002. Eglin, J., Venice Transfigured. The Myth of Venice in British Culture, 1660-1797, New York, Palgrave, 2001. Fay, S. and Knightley, P., The Death of Venice, London, Andre Deutsch, 1976. Fletcher, C. and Da Mosto, J., The Science of Saving Venice, Turin, London, Venice and New York, Umberto Alemandi, 2004. Fletcher, C. and Spencer, T. eds., Flooding and Environmental Challenges for Venice and its Lagoon: State of Knowledge, Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 2005. Frassetto, R., The facts of relative sea-level rise in Venice, in Flooding and Environmental Challenges for Venice and its Lagoon: State of Knowledge, eds. C. Fletcher and T. Spencer (Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 2005), 29-40.• Holgate, Simon. 2007. “On the decadal rates of sea level change during the twentieth century.” Geophysical Research Letters 34• Ghetti, A, Subsidence and Sea level Fluctuations in the Territory of Venice, Landscape and Urban Planning, 1988, 16, 13-33.• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2007. “Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Summary for Policymakers..• Keahey, J., Venice against the Sea, A City Besieged, New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2002.• Muir, E., Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1981. Nietzsche, F., Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality, trans. R.J. Hollingdale, Cambridge University Press, 1982. Norwich, J., A History of Venice, Penguin, London, 1983. Norwich, J., Paradise of Cities. Venice and Its Nineteenth-century Visitors, Viking (Penguin), London, 2003. OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2010. OECD Territorial Reviews: Venice, Italy 2010. Plant, M., Venice. Fragile City. 1797-1997, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2002. Rosand, D., Myths of Venice. The Figuration of a State, Chapel Hill and London, University of North Carolina Press, 2001. Said, E., Not all the Way to the Tigers: Britten's “Death in Venice,” Critical Quarterly, 41, 1999, 46. Vianello, M., Un’isola del tesoro, Venice, Marsilio, 2004. Zucchetta, G., Storia dell’acqua alta a Venezia, Venice, Marsilio, 2000.

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