VENICE AUTHORITIES TRY TO DETERMINE WHY CANAL TURNED FLUORESCENT GREEN

Mon 29 May 2023:

Authorities are trying to figure out why the major canal in Venice has turned neon green in the vicinity of Italy’s famous Rialto Bridge.

The fire department in Italy published a video of one of its boats sailing over luminescent waters on Sunday. The fire department discovered the Grand Canal to be green this morning as they intervened with ARPAV to gather samples and examine this unusual color, it added.

#28maggio #Venezia, Canal Grande colorato di verde e quello che hanno costatato questa mattina i #vigilidelfuoco intervenuti insieme ad @arpaveneto per dei prelievi per analizzare la colorazione anomala #soccorsiquotidiani pic.twitter.com/tzKoQqEXvx

— VigilFuoco Veneto (@vvfveneto) May 28, 2023

ARPAV, Veneto’s regional environmental protection agency, said it received samples of the altered waters and was working to identify the substance that changed their colour.

The Venice prefect has called an emergency meeting of police forces to understand what happened and study possible countermeasures, the ANSA news agency reported.

The incident echoes recent episodes in Italy where environmental groups have been colouring monuments. However, unlike previous cases, no activist group has come forward to claim responsibility for what happened in Venice.

Last week, environmental activists climbed Rome’s Trevi Fountain and poured black liquid obtained from diluted vegetable charcoal into its water.

The group of around 10 people also stood inside the fountain holding a banner reading “We Won’t Pay for Fossil Fuels”, a reference to the campaign to stop public investment and subsidies of fossil fuels.

A gondola navigates along Venice’s historic Grand Canal as a patch of phosphorescent green liquid spreads.

In March, protestors painted orange paint on the walls of Florence’s town hall, Palazzo Vecchio, to draw attention to the need to address climate change.

Venice’s waters had previously turned green at the international art exhibition La Biennale in 1968, when Argentinian artist Nicolas Garcia Uriburu splashed non-toxic bright green fluorescent sodium in the Grand Canal.

When microorganisms in water created the pigment, it turned vivid green as part of an artistic endeavor that called attention to worsening water contamination.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

______________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent