Venice - Sea level exceeds 110 cm for the first time in summer
On the evening of yesterday 28 August, the sea level exceeded for the first time in the middle of summer the level of +110 cm on the Tide Mark of Punta della Salute (ZMPS) in the Gulf of Venice, a threshold beyond which there would be significant flooding of the City of Venice, avoided, in this case, by the entry into operation of the MoSE system
The values recorded by the tide gauge networks of ISPRA and the Tide Forecasting and Reporting Center of the Municipality of Venice reached a level of 115 cm off the Venetian coast (Aqua Alta Platform) at 20.30 and about 120 cm at the three inlets of Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia. These are the highest values recorded in summer along the Venetian coast, where 110 cm (ZMPS) had never been reached in July and August. The activation of the MoSE system has kept the levels in the Venice Lagoon at values below 90 cm (ZMPS), preventing the city from flooding.
An anomalous event for the season, but foreseen days in advance by the Technical Table for the Forecasting of the Tide made up of the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, the Center for Forecasting and Reporting of the Tides of the Municipality of Venice and the CNR ISMAR, with the support of the forecasting models of the ISPRA Hydro-Meteo-Sea System.
Due to the rise in mean sea level, clearly highlighted by the over 100-year historical series of ISPRA, as well as the trend of increasing sea surface temperatures on the Mediterranean, it is to be expected that these events will be increasingly frequent even in the summer months .
