THERE are fears the famous Italian city of Venice could be completely engulfed in water, as a £4billion project to protect it from sinking stalls. Read on to find out what is causing the problem and what's being done to stop it from happening . Venice has been hit by ever-rising water levels over the past century.
It's surrounded by the sea due to its position within the Venetian Lagoon, which is a shallow wetland right on the Italian coast. This means it can bear the brunt of high tides coming from the Adriatic Sea which flow towards the city. Venice is built upon more than a hundred small islands, with a network of canals in place of roads.
It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a tourist hotspot, and has often been rated as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Venice is only around a metre above sea level though, meaning it often gets flooded - and the gradual sinking of the city means flooding is getting worse. The city's buildings were built using long lengths of wood made of tree trunks that were pushed down into the ground to make them stable.
Underneath isn't completely solid, so the foundations of the city have been able to move over time. The solid bedrock of the area is much deeper than where the wooden poles currently go to, and so they've slowly gone further downwards into the mud. At the moment, Venice is sinking by around 1 to 2mm each year.
This might not sound like much, but it's enough for experts to say the city might be underwater within a centur.
