Sea Level Impact on Venice

¶ … Sea Level Impact on Venice

Global Warming (1 reference)

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found evidence derived from all over the world which shows people, plants and animals are being affected by regional climate changes, especially increases in temperature. The warming created by human activities most likely has had an influence on the world's animals and plants, ecosystems, water resources, forestry, agriculture, health and coastlines throughout the world. The impact of global warming may be negative and all areas of the world will experience increases in costs and declines in benefits if average global temperatures warm more than 3.6 o to 5.4o F. However, adaptation and mitigation could change the risks faced as a result of climate change for the better (EPA, p. 1).

Impacts of Global Warming (2 references)

The Mexican resort town of Playa del Carmen was hit hard by Hurricane Wilma, as storm surges, fueled by the warming waters of the ocean off the coast, swept across the land, exploding a gas tank and dropping buildings and trees on inhabitants. Two people died in the explosion and a man died after he was crushed under a falling branch in Playa del Carmen. The Yucatan peninsula was hard hit by Hurricane Wilma, which battered not only Playa del Carmen, but Cozumel and Cancun. Hundreds of thousands of tourists and residents retreated before the 140 mph winds in October of 2005. Flooding, landslides and damaged buildings destroyed property and swept away whole towns in the tourist-fueled region, creating economic woes, social upheaval and devastation to the environment (BBC, p. 46).

The glaciers and the North Pole are melting at an alarming rate and some resorts are taking advantage of the rush to see ice and snow before it is gone. Alaska is experiencing a tourist boom of those who want to see glaciers before they disappear. One Hostel in Switzerland is welcoming up to 800 people per day, twice their normal capacity. The guests hope to watch a rock the size of two Empire State Buildings collapse onto a canyon floor about 650 feet below when the glacier which is holding it up finally melts. Meanwhile, they watch boulders the size of buildings roll down the sides of the Eiger, a mountain which has been held together for eons by permafrost. This is just one example of stories of resorts either losing or gaining clients as a result of the glaciers losing up to a tenth of their volume in a year. Today the ice occupies a third to half the volume it did in 1850 (Reuters, p. 1).

Sea Level Rise (1 reference)