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Built on a lagoon, Venice is now in constant danger of
becoming a new Atlantis, explains journalist Keahey (A Sweet and Glorious
Land) in this fascinating look at the ecological disaster facing the city
of canals. Not only is sea level "sixteen feet higher than it was six
thousand years ago when the lagoon was formed," a situation made increasingly
worse by global warming, but the foolish extraction of ground water for
industrial uses has accelerated the city's sinking. Indeed, a catastrophic
flood in 1966 was a clear warning, and in 1996 there were "ninety-nine
tides over thirteen inches," all of which flooded St. Mark's Square. Keahey
writes perceptively of Venice's ecology and history -- its mythic founding
by descendants of Trojan warriors, its involvement with the Crusades and
the development of medieval trade routes -- quoting a wide variety of
sources from Livy to Jan Morris to scientists at the 1997 Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change. While the situation looks dire (malfeasance on
the part of the Italian government has only made things worse), Keahey
investigates several possible solutions, like a potentially promising
plan for barrier gates similar to the ones London uses to control the
Thames. This informative book examines an urban environmental crisis in
the making."
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PublishersWeekly, Jan. 28, 2002
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