This month Venetians may need to don wetsuits along with their usual Carnival garb. The Christian Science Monitor reported recently that the worst flooding in 22 years struck the city in December. "[It] caused the lagoon to rise more than 5 feet above normal, forcing tourists to bunker down in hotels and shopkeepers to put up sandbag barricades."

As the tides ebb and flow so does the debate over the so-called MOSES barrier project that, if completed on schedule in 2014, will allow 78 steel gates to be raised from the lagoon floor in times of high water. Supporters are encouraged that MOSES will protect priceless art and architecture. Opponents fear the lagoon will grow stagnant if its natural circulation is interrupted by the gates.

For more information, check out Venice in Peril and Disappearing Destinations.

- H.H.