Extreme weather events linked to the
climate crisis have surged in Italy, with 132 in the last six
months, the highest average figure in the last decade,
environmental group Legambiente said Friday.
It said "Italy is ever more subject to extreme climate events"
because of human-caused climate change.
Legambiente said in its latest Climate City Observatory report
that from 2010 up to July 2022 there had been 1,318 extreme
weather events in Italy.
It said the most significant impacts had been in 710 Italian
municipalities.
In these years, it said, there had been 516 floodings due to
intense rain, 367 cases of damage cause by tornadoes, 157 cases
of damage caused by rain to infrastructure, 123 cases of rivers
breaking their banks with consequent damage to the countryside
and crops, 63 cases of hail damage, 55 cases of prolonged
drought, 55 landslides after intense rain, 22 cases of damage to
the historic heritage, and 17 cases of extreme temperatures in
cities or in wider heat waves.
It said the climate crisis was being "incomprehensibly
under-estimated" in the current campaign for the September 25
general election in Italy.
In 2022, extreme climate events had reached the level of "code
red", it said.
"Those who are bidding to govern the country for the next five
years should explain what solutions they want to implement to
tackle the climate crisis, one of the principal planetary
emergencies that is risking bringing the entire planet to its
knees".
Thursday saw a wave of storms in northern Italy that killed two
people in Tuscany.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
