CORILA a consortium for co-ordinating research concerning the Venice lagoon system says that the lagoon is being transformed from a marsh into a completely marine environment.

ECONOMIST: Flood barriers

At the new Intercontinental Hotels resort at Bora Bora, air conditioning for its 80 villas on a pristine lagoon comes from a system of pipes extending 1.5 miles offshore and 3, 000 feet deep, tapping the cooling power of 41-degree seawater.

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This flushing, says Job Baretta, a consultant on coastal system dynamics, was rapid enough to avoid over-fertilisation of the lagoon until the 1980s, when massive and persistent blooms of algae broke out.

ECONOMIST: Flood barriers