(By Alessandra Briganti)
In addition to the COVID-19
pandemic, the summer of 2021 will also be remembered for extreme
events such as heatwaves, wildfires and floods which experts say
are the effect of climate change caused by greenhouse-gas
emissions.
According to the 'Climate' study of the ESPON EU research
programme, which specializes in regional analysis, southern
Italy is one of the areas of Europe most exposed to climate
change, along with Spain and Portugal in the west and Bulgaria,
Romania and Poland in the east.
The study started with the analysis of the exposure and
sensibility to climate change of each of Europe's regions.
The researchers explained that sensibility depends on a
combination of a region's physical, environmental, social,
cultural and economic characteristics.
Both of these elements, exposure and sensibility, contribute to
determining the impact of climate change on a region.
This, in turn, can be combatted by a given region's capacity to
adapt via, for example, the construction of dams.
The study explained that the result of these variables gives the
potential vulnerability of a given region.
So Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are considered
to be of "low or marginal vulnerability", in part because of
their relatively high adaptation capacity.
Developed areas such as north Italy, France, Austria, Belgium,
the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, on the other hand, have
an "at least average vulnerability", as shown in part by the
recent disasters caused by extraordinary rainfall.
The researchers observed that, in general, the impact of climate
change in metropolitan European regions will tend to be high
because of the high concentration of population, infrastructure
and cultural heritage, as well as the fact that these areas
often feature rivers or are along the coast.
But they generally have a greater capacity to adapt than
non-metropolitan regions, which makes these areas less
vulnerable to climate change.
The are some exceptions.
As regards to this, the ESPON study mentions cities along
coasts, in the Alps and in southern-eastern Europe.
The question is more varied for rural areas, with those in
central and northern Europe facing low-level or marginal
variations and, in some cases, positive ones as the climate
conditions only worsen slightly in them or are more favourable.
The rural areas of southern Europe, on the other hand, are hit
harder because of their hotter, drier climates.
The researchers also put mountainous regions among the most
vulnerable areas, in particular in Greece and Spain, along with
Alpine regions and coastal areas, especially those on the
Mediterranean and on the south of the North Sea.
The lowly populated areas of northern Europe will mainly suffer
the effects of greater rainfall and of related problems such as
rivers breaking their banks.
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