Coronavirus Lockdown in Venice Leads to Changes in Canals

April 19, 2019

April 13, 2020

 

These images display the stark reduction in boat traffic in Venice, Italy's canals during the coronavirus lockdown as compared to what it would normally be at about the same time of year in the absence of a lockdown. The reduced traffic allowed silt to settle making the water appear more blue and allowing wildlife to repopulate the canals in the absence of human activity. In the image from 2020, the settling of silt is visible in the dark blue regions located predominantly at the top central and left portions in addition to the lower left portions of the image. Further, the water in the 2020 image is a deeper shade of blue as compared to the 2019 image. There are also far fewer boats present in the 2020 image, these boats are identifiable by the small white specs that are very common in the 2019 image of the city.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/16/europe/venice-space-satellite-images-canals-scli-intl-scn/index.html