(see related)
The Italian section of Greenpeace and
the National Research Council's Research Institute for
Geo-Hydrological Protection (CNR-IRPI) said in a joint statement
on Wednesday that the deadly floods that have hit Emilia-Romagna
and Marche are linked to the global warming caused by human
greenhouse-gas emissions.
"Extreme events like those currently taking place risk becoming
normality if we do not urgently address the causes of the
climate crisis," said Greenpeace Italia's Federico Spadini.
"We are not faced with simple episodes of bad weather, but
full-blown tragedies fed by the heating of the planet.
"Continuing to extract and burn gas and oil is a crime that will
increasingly make the climate crisis worse, with the loss of
human lives, environmental destruction and serious social and
economic impacts.
"That is why we must immediately end the fossil-fuel era".
CNR-IRPI Researcher Mauro Rossi said that "a connection between
what is happening at the moment in Emilia-Romagna and the
consequences of climate change exists.
Rossi said that the drought northern Italy has endured over the
last year made the ground less able to absorb this intense
rainfall.
"The increase in temperatures intensifies episodes of drought,
dries the soil and modifies its permeability in various ways,"
Rossi continued.
"At the same time, the same quantity of water falls in a shorter
time span, increasing the intensity of precipitation...
"Unfortunately today we can see how the alternation of dry
periods and extreme-rain events makes geo-hydrological events
more likely in our territory".
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