Where most of the world uses roads to connect to the rest of the world, Venice (in Italy) uses its inland waterways to connect across the city. In fact, Venice depends upon its waterways for everything but from the last few years this water has been a cause of concern for the city.
Venice has battled rising water levels since the fifth century. But today, the water seems to be winning. Several factors, both natural and man-made, cause Venice to flood about 100 times a year.
The natural cause is the city’s ground level that has been sinking gradually by an estimate of one millimetre a year. This is something that has been going on for a long time but the other reason which is the man-made reason seems to be the bigger culprit in drowning the city.
The man-made reason which we are talking about is global warming. Global warming is considered to be the main reason due to which the sea levels are rising and many cities and countries around the world are facing the danger of becoming submerged under water.
This brings to a very important question which is – What is global warming and how does it affect the planet?
Global warming refers to the increase in earth’s temperature over a long period of time. This increase in temperature cause the glaciers around the world to melt and thus, contributing in the rise of water levels.
If the water level continues to rise then the coastal areas face the risk of drowning and the day is not far when most of the earth will be submerged under water.
Another question is – What causes global warming?
The main culprit behind it is pollution. Carbon dioxide and other pollutants combined together do not let the heat of the sun get out of the earth’s atmosphere, hence, increasing the temperature of the planet.
Human activities like cutting of trees, pollution from driving cars, chemical waste from factories, construction of buildings, over usage of resources due to over population, etc.
What can we do to stop global warming?
These are the steps through which we can stop global warming:
Stop wastage and use such goods which can be reused,
Reduce the usage of private cars and try to use public transport,
Plant more trees so that the level of oxygen increases.
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