This is how scientists suggest the flood-hit city ofVenicecould look by 2100 if it is to be saved from the sea ... completely enclosed by a ring of dykes.Venicehas co-existed with the sea throughout its 1,500-year history but nowfloodsare becoming increasingly more frequent as the sea rises and thecity'sinks' under its own weight.

So a team of UK and European scientistshave published an academicanalysis of the various options Venice has to ensure its long-term survival.One artist impressionshows an idea deemed necessary by the end of the century, which is to create a ring of dykes around the city to separate it from the Venetian Lagoon.

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But ultimately, climate experts fear the only permanent solution is to relocate the city to safer ground, necessary if sea-level rises over 5-metres - which is projected to occur after 2300 - but at a staggering cost of 100 billion Euros (£87 billion).

The Conversationarticle by Robert James Nicholls - Professor of Climate Adaptation at the University of East Anglia - Marjolijn Haasnoot, Professor of Climate Adaptation, Utrecht University; and Piero Lionello - Professor of Atmospheric Physics and Oceanography, University of Salento - reveals the alarming results of their study into Venice's future.

The tourist hotspot is already at risk of succumbing to its sinking foundations and rising waters, with 18 extreme flooding events occurring over the last 23 years.

Experts predict that over the next 300 years, global sea levels could rise by up to seven metres – while a 16–metre rise 'cannot be ruled out'.

The historic city is built atop 120 small islands crisscrossed by 177 canals and nearly 400 bridges and its current flood defences include a trio of movable barriers at the lagoon's edge that can seal the area from high tides.

For their study, the team assessed four potential strategies to save the city from sea level rises: introducing more movable barriers; installing a continuous line of flood defences called ring dykes; closing the Venetian Lagoon with a 'super levee' and relocating the city, its residents and historic landmarks further inland.

Source: Daily Express :: World Feed