Question

The city of Venice, Italy, is slowly sinking, due to the unstable foundation on which it is built. The city loses about 0.078 inches of height relative to the current sea level each year. In addition, the sea levels themselves are rising at a rateam of about 0.04 inches per year. If you put a mark on a building an inch above the current sea level today, in approximately how many years would the mark be at sea level? Assume that rate of sinking and sea level rise stay the same.

Answer 1

The mark that is today 1 inch above water should be under water in about 8 years and a half. Every year it loses 0.078 + 0.04 = 0.118 inches. If we divide 1:0.118 = 8.47, we get about 8,5 years.