In certain areas of the Mediterranean , sea levels are rising three times faster than estimates made so far : over 38,500 square kilometers of coastline will soon be at risk of flooding .
This is indicated by the study signed by three Italian researchers from the Rome and Bologna offices of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology and the Dutch University of Radboud, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
For Italy, the coasts most at risk are those of Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and northern Puglia on the Adriatic side, together with those of Tuscany, Lazio and, in part, Sardinia on the Tyrrhenian side.
The cause of this upward change in sea level rise projections lies in the phenomenon of subsidence . «Subsidence, i.e. the slow downward movement of the soil due to natural or anthropogenic causes, has a crucial role in accelerating the rise in sea levels along the coasts, triggered by global warming since 1880», observes Marco Anzidei, from Ingv, from the studio with Antonio Vecchio and Enrico Serpelloni. «Our analyzes show that, precisely because of subsidence, in some areas of the Mediterranean the sea level is increasing at an almost triple speed compared to stable areas», adds Vecchio of the University of Radboud and first author of the research.
In the research, observes Serpelloni, data from satellite navigation systems were used, which allow the speed of vertical movement of the ground to be calculated extremely precisely. In light of these data, the three researchers recalculated the current projections up to 2150 in 265 areas of the Mediterranean.
«In the areas found to be most at risk there will be greater impacts on the environment, on human activities and on infrastructures», says Anzidei. "It is therefore necessary - he concludes - to take concrete actions to support coastal populations."
(Unioneonline/vl)
