Numerical Simulation of Morphology in the Tidal Environments

The effects of global climate changes occur in the rising sea level, higher lake level, stronger more frequent storms and extreme temperature. And these changes will have real impacts on the natural environment as well as human-made infrastructures. For example, Acqua alta, or "high water", flooded Venice in Italy with more a meter of salty lagoon water in December, 2008. The acqua alta which was the most extreme in 22 years reached 156 cm and flooded most of the city (Figure 1). The activities and economics of the city were damaged due to the flood. Venice is planning to construct floodgates at the Lagoon's entrances to decrease the flood damages. But it remains to be seen whether acqua alta can be tamed without closing off the Lagoon from the sea and turning it into a freshwater lake. Recently, the wetland areas in the Lagoon is decreased to 30% of the area in 1810 by the human activities (Figure 2), which affected the decrease of the sediment inflow to the Lagoon, the increase of sediment discharge from it, the rising sea level and the settlement of the ground.