The protection of Venice (as of other cities that share the same problems) from flooding is an essential requirement, but the repeated use of mobile floodgates of Mose risks having a highly negative impact on the fragile lagoon ecosystem.

The Department of Geosciences has been engaged for years in a line of research that has investigated the consequences of the system of moveable walls on the growth of salt marshes, as well as on the morphology and ecosystem of the lagoon, also suggesting the need to find solutions capable of mitigating these effects.

An article recently published in National Geographic explored this topic by interviewing some experts of our Department: professors Andrea D'Alpaos and Massimiliano Ghinassi and the researcher Alvise Finotello, with his colleague Davide Tognin, researcher of the Icea Department.

Written by the journalist Frank Viviano and enriched by the photographs of Marco Zorzanello, the article describes the functioning of the Mose and explains how the repeated use of this system (more and more probable in the light of the climatic changes taking place) has very strong repercussions on the ecosystem of the Lagoon. and, in particular, on the salt marshes which are extraordinarily effective in terms of sequestration of carbon dioxide.

The defense of Venice and the towns must not be called into question. Instead, researchers urge that the barriers be raised when the tide reaches a slightly higher level, which they say would reduce the loss of sediment to an environmentally sustainable 10 percent.