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Rome — Drought Italy The situation is expanding rapidly, as rivers and reservoirs are depleted and hot weather can make things worse, the country's irrigation authorities warned Thursday.
Some Italian regions have already declared a state of emergency and are aiming to free up funds to counter the growing water crisis.
"The worst combination of drought and temperature in recent years ... Italy is heading for a dramatic environmental and economic situation when it reaches 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) at the end of June," said the ANBI irrigation organization. I am saying.
Italy's longest river, Po, crosses major northern regions and accounts for about one-third of the country's agricultural production, the worst in 70 years. I have been hit by a drought.
"Po continues to record epochs throughout the course," says ANBI. "The flow has halved in two weeks, dropping to just over 170 cubic meters per second," he added, adding that the flow needs to be 450 cm / s to prevent salt water from entering the sea and destroying farmland. I did.
According to ANBI, major lakes in the north are already below or approaching record lows, and water levels in central Italy's natural reservoirs have plummeted. The Tiber is the lowest in years, but the Aniene is halved.
The Lazio region, centered on Rome, declared a state of emergency this week, imposing restrictions on some communities, such as banning hose pipes and filling pools.
A European Space Agency-funded project said Thursday that several weeks of heat caused surface temperatures in the Mediterranean to rise by about 4 degrees Celsius above the 1985-2005 average.
"As changes are beginning to have a concrete impact on our daily lives, it is becoming increasingly important to understand exactly what is happening in the current climate," the project said. Jean Maria Sannino, Head of Climate Modeling for ENEA, who participated in the event, said. ..
In Sardinia and Sicily, highs are expected to reach 44 degrees Celsius, and next week temperatures are expected to be 10 to 12 degrees higher than normal, raising concerns about the rest of this month's weather forecasts. I am. (Report by Crispian Balmer, edited by Alison Williams)
