To The Eagle:

Like Dennis (comments Nov. 28 on Venice) I too wonder about “lack of common sense among some people.” I agree with Dennis “we are all ignorant on many issues, it will not help to stay ignorant.” I looked into the scientific side of Venice’s water problem and found Venice is sinking naturally, which then exacerbates sea level rise. From scientific sources I found: “Venice's subsidence was recognized as a major issue decades ago, when scientists realized that pumping groundwater from beneath the city, combined with ground compaction from centuries of (heavy) buildings, was causing the city to settle. …Study findings also showed the Italian city is slowly tilting slightly to the east, something scientists had never noticed before.”

“Venice subsided about 120 mm in the 20th century due to natural processes and groundwater extraction, …Bock and his colleagues calculate (KEY) that the city …could sink about 80 mm (3.2 inches) …in the next 20 years”

“The forces causing the subsidence are likely natural ones that have been impacting the area for a long time (centuries), particularly plate tectonics. The Adriatic plate, on which Venice sits, is subducting beneath the Apennines Mountains” (a natural and constant subsidence).

As US Fish and Wildlife Service has stated many times about dynamic climate change, all flora and fauna on earth must “adapt, migrate or perish.”

Rick Fritz

Puget Island