A new academic study has found that none of the available strategies for protecting Venice (the centuries-old Italian lagoon city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site) would preserve it in its current form as sea levels continue to rise. Researchers assessed options ranging from expanding the city's existing MOSE flood barriers — steel gates that seal the lagoon from the sea, already activated 30 times in just the first two months of 2026 — to building ring dykes, enclosing the entire lagoon with a vast "super levee," or relocating the city inland at a potential cost of up to €100 billion. The study concludes there is no optimal solution, warning that every approach involves painful trade-offs between resident safety, ecology, cultural heritage, and cost, and that long-term planning must begin immediately.