Commentaries
Güven Sak, PhD - [Archive]
What does Venice without gondolas imply? 16/11/2010 - Viewed 1242 times
The New York Times reports that sea level is likely to rise three feet by 2100.
I wish you all a happy holiday. Holidays should be days for reflection. Here is a commentary on the state of humanity then: Have you ever thought what Venice without gondolas could mean?
At my most recent trip in October, I have gone to Venice by sea. It was a quite beautiful trip. The city was smooth, integrated with the sea. There existed an eternal harmony. It looked tremendously calm and amazing. In the words of Commissioner Wallender in Henning Mankell, it had the traits only rich people could enjoy; i.e. it had quiescence.
The story about gondolas is another one. October was a time when the sea flew on the tides. To pass under the bridge, you had to tilt the gondola slightly. Since the sea level rose by more than six feet, it got harder to cross under by a gondola the 409 bridges glamorizing 150 bridges in the city. But given that the city is founded along the sea stretching on 117 islands, this would be an ordinary trouble to face.
Gondolas in October
As the gondola tilted slightly under each bridge, I had to cling more to the boat. I was also worried about the risk that my head would knock against the bridge. And it was how I decided not to ride a gondola in Venice in Octobers. But on top of it, a story published in the New York Times on Sunday makes you think 'I guess Venice will have no gondolas anymore.'
As the story says, by 2100 sea level in our beautiful blue planet will be three feet higher. The calculation is based on the research on glaciers around Green. It is identified that glaciers started to melt more rapidly. Sea level has begun to rise in the 19th century. That is the century when the Industrial Revolution took place and the humankind started to use coal and oil. Since then sea level has risen by around 5 feet. And scientists are afraid that with the ice melting, the process will be accelerated. The following research on Mediterranean is quite interesting. Maybe you would like to check: (http://giotto.casaccia.enea.it/staff/antonioli/Articoli/29.pdf)
It could affect everyone
What does the rising of sea level by three feet by 2100 imply? Venice will have to say goodbye to gondolas, for instance. Such event will affect the life styles of billions of people from the USA to Bangladesh. I personally think that 'Venice without gondolas' is a warning sign. While world population reaches 9 billion and Chinese people are getting richer and using deodorants we should immediately review our lifestyles. I insist that in this respect it will be wise for us to trust in what 98 out of every 100 scientist say. Of course, two out of hundred claims the opposite. It is your call.
By the way, are you aware of Turkey's energy policy which targets to increase the number of hydroelectricity plants from 145 to 500 by 2023? In this context, it is aimed to let 90 percent of rivers flow out of their basin. We are endangering biological diversity for the sake of energy generation. This is what the OECD claims. And we are not doing this for a specific purpose. As I have argued several times, if a country does not have an industrial policy, it has neither energy policy, nor environmental policy. It cannot have a foreign policy, either. Thus, Turkey has neither of these. We have been living life as if we are playing a game. Let the end e bright!
This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 16.11.2010
