People walk across the flooded St. Mark's Square of St. Mark's Basilica on Friday in Venice, two days after the city suffered its highest tide in 50 years. Italy declared a state of emergency for the UNESCO city where perilous deluges have caused millions of dollars' worth of damage. Photo: AFP
Chinese netizens and media have followed the situation in Venice, which for weeks has seen the worst flooding in more than five decades. Reports, pictures and videos have spread on the internet with many Chinese netiznes connecting the flood to climate change and more calling for action.
The Chinese hashtags "more than half of Venice is drowning," "Venice experiencing the most dangerous week in history" and "Venice might be submerged in future decades" have garnered millions of views on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like social media in China.
"The 'Water City of Venice' is becoming the 'Underwater City of Venice,'" a Sina Weibo user said.
"Venice is the city I have been dreaming of visiting," expressed another.
Net users are connecting the Venetian floods to global climate change.
"Care about the environment and please plant more trees. Prevent the global warming is not just a slogan to shout," a Chinese netizen said.
More than 200 Weibo users participated in an online survey, among which 91.8 percent believed that climate change is man-made and nature will have its revenge. Others claimed the problem of climate change is not caused by them.
The water in Venice reached 1.87 meters above average sea level Tuesday, the second-highest level ever recorded in the city and just 7 centimeters lower than the historic 1966 flood. Another exceptionally high tide followed Wednesday, AP reported.