Italy's severe drought is getting
even worse, the ANBI water-resources observatory said on
Thursday.
It said 113.7 cubic metres of water a second were passing
through the River Po at Pontelagoscuro, near Ferrara, some 123
metres a second less than the previous all-time low and around
10% of the average level.
It said central Italy was also being hit hard by the drought,
describing Rome and Viterbo as "the Italian capitals of thirst".
Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana said Tuesday that his region
has almost run out of water for agriculture due to the drought.
"Unfortunately, we have got to such a level of drought that
water for agriculture is running out," Fontana said at a
conference at Pavia University.
"Lakes Maggiore, Garda and Como have reserves that it will be
possible to use for agricultural purposes for a few days.
"The situation is very worrying.
"If it doesn't rain in the next few days, it will be difficult
to find water resources for agriculture".
Scientists say that extreme weather events like the heat waves
that are currently hitting many parts of Europe, supercharged
storms, flooding and droughts are becoming more frequent and
intense because of climate change caused by human activity.
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